(January 7, 2025) – Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit issued its decision reversing a lower court’s dismissal of the federal civil rights lawsuit brought by a former Tulsa, Oklahoma police officer against the City of Tulsa and its former chief of police who fired the officer based on complaints made by an anti-police activist about the officer’s social media posts.
The police officer, Wayne Brown, is represented by the American Freedom Law Center and local counsel Scott Wood.
As stated in the Tenth Circuit’s unanimous decision:
Brown argues that the district court erred in dismissing his First Amendment claim against the City of Tulsa for failure to state a claim under Rule 12(b)(6) because it concluded that the City’s interest in maintaining a police force that instills public confidence and discourages partisanship in law enforcement outweighed his free speech rights, and in ruling that Chief Jordan in his individual capacity was shielded by qualified immunity.  We agree.
The anti-police activist who made the complaint to the City had the assistance of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). They coordinated their efforts to falsely and publicly assert that Brown’s pro-Trump and other conservative social media posts, which he made years prior to being hired by the Tulsa Police Department, demonstrate that he was a racist and an Islamophobe. Both of which are demonstrably false, but the “cancel culture” doesn’t care about facts. However, as this case demonstrates, siding with such activists could be costly for cities and their officials, who are liable for legal fees and damages.
In sum, today the Tenth Circuit affirmed that police officers possess First Amendment rights and that city police departments and their chiefs of police may face serious legal liability for siding with anti-police activists who seek to pressure them into firing an officer for his protected speech.
It is clear from this unanimous decision that private citizens who choose to be police officers do not surrender their constitutional rights upon accepting employment with the government.
Since it is always in the public interest to vindicate constitutional rights, this appellate court decision reversing the dismissal of the officer’s civil rights lawsuit benefits all private citizens who cherish our fundamental freedoms. Indeed, it is also good to see a court stand up for our men in blue, who are too often attacked and vilified for the important work they do for all of us.
Opinion