Mayer V. Monroe: The Seventh Circuit Sheds Freedom of Speech at the Classroom Door

Abstract:     
During a curriculum-specified class discussion of the war in Iraq, a sixth grader asked her teacher, Ms. Mayer, if she would ever march to protest the war. The school dismissed the teacher for answering the student. In Mayer v. Monroe County Community School Corp., the Seventh Circuit ruled that no teacher has the First Amendment right to express an opinion in the classroom. The case inappropriately applied the U.S. Supreme Court's recent Garcetti v. Ceballos decision in a way that overruled previous precedent. This Note will argue that the Seventh Circuit should have followed its earlier decisions by asking the school to show a legitimate pedagogical reason for its decision.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 34

Keywords: First Amendment, Speech, Garcetti, Ceballos, Connick, Pickering, School, law, Seventh Circuit, Piggee, Mayer v. Monroe, classroom, teacher speech, Hazelwood, Kuhlmeier

JEL Classification: K3, K31, K00, K1, K19, K39

Accepted Paper Series