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Chapter 10 Case Studies

Case Study 1

Jonathan Hammersmith worked as an undercover officer for the Sometown Police Department. For the past six months, he had been working deep undercover investigating a drug ring in Sometown Heights. His handler was Fred Rich. Hammersmith met with Rich every other week to update him on the progress of the investigation and to report any problems.

The investigation was going well. It had taken a couple of months, but Hammersmith had earned the trust of the ringleader, Jimmy Lynch. Hammersmith accompanied Lynch everywhere and attended meetings with drug suppliers and dealers. It was at one of these meetings that Hammersmith learned why Jimmy Lynch always avoided being caught by the police.

At one of the meetings, one of Lynch’s associates mentioned that he was going to “take his Pa out for coffee” the next day. That struck Hammersmith as an odd thing to say, so he looked into it. He discovered that taking one’s father out for coffee not only involved picking up the check, but giving “Pa” a little extra spending money too. “Pa” turned out to be none other than Jake French, a member of his task force. A little more digging revealed that several other members of the Sometown Police Department were on the take.

At first Hammersmith was not sure what to do. He knew that reporting the matter internally would go badly. Officers who “ratted out” other officers were scorned by the department and given the worst assignments. What was worse, they had no recourse. While Hammersmith did not want to kill his career with the force, he also did not want to let the matter stand. He had worked for years to get drugs under control in Sometown, and he did not want that all to go to waste. Hammersmith wrote his state senator and the governor and provided them with information about the members of the force who were on the take. An investigation ensued, and the guilty parties on the force were brought down. While some of the officers on the force hated Hammersmith, he kept his job.

Questions

1. What are Jonathan Hammersmith’s First Amendment rights as a police officer for work-related speech?

2. Why wouldn’t Hammersmith report the bribery to his handler, Fred Rich? What Supreme Court decisions illustrate why he reacted as he did?

3. What is the “public concern” requirement, and did Hammersmith’s actions meet it?

Case Study 2

Sometown Police Detective George Rome faced termination for misusing department computers to look at online pornography. The policy against using department computers for such purposes and the consequences for violating the policy were clearly stated in the department’s employee handbook, and Rome had signed a statement saying that he had read and understood the handbook. Two months before, he had been issued a written warning for using department computers to visit pornographic websites. This warning stated that the next step in the process was termination. He had also signed this warning. A week before termination proceedings began, a routine check on his online activity—a check that all department computers are subjected to—revealed that he had once again visited these websites. This evidence provided just cause to terminate Rome.

As Rome was a senior officer on the force, prior to termination, he was given a hearing, attended by the chief of police, a representative from the union, and the head of the internal investigations department, who would make the ultimate decision. At the hearing, he was presented with the charge against him: misuse of department computers to visit pornographic websites. Rome was told that this was in direct violation of department policy, a policy that he had acknowledged and had agreed to abide by. In addition, he had received a written warning stating that if he violated this policy again, he would be terminated. A routine check of his online activity had revealed that he violated the policy. The committee gave Rome an opportunity to challenge the evidence and to present testimony. As Rome had, in fact, used department computers to look at online pornography after being warned not to do so, he chose not to challenge the evidence against him or present testimony in his defense. George Rome was terminated from the Sometown Police Department.

Questions

1. George Rome was in flagrant violation of department policy and had violated a written warning issued just two months prior to his termination. Why was he not immediately terminated?

2. What is the constitutional basis for a “property right in a job”? What is “just cause”?

3. What are the minimum requirements for a termination hearing for police officers who have a property right in their jobs? Were these requirements met in George Rome’s case?

Case Study 3

Ever since she was a little girl, Juanita Lopez wanted nothing more than to join the Sometown Police Department. She had worked hard to fashion herself into an ideal candidate. In college, she had studied justice at and had graduated at the top of her class. Lopez spoke English and Spanish fluently and also knew some Mandarin Chinese. Unlike most of the members of the force, she would be able to communicate with the majority of the residents of Sometown without the aid of an interpreter. Despite having a sizeable Latino population, Sometown did not have any Latina women on the police force. This had caused difficulties when the police conducted investigations in Latino neighborhoods. Lopez’s presence would likely alleviate this problem.

An outgoing person who had lived her entire life in Sometown, Lopez knew almost everyone in town, and they knew and respected her. Lopez also had a black belt in karate and ran marathons, so the physical demands of the job would not present her with any difficulties. When she applied to join the Sometown Police force, she fully expected to be offered the job with open arms.

There was just one little problem. Juanita Lopez was 5′1″ tall and weighed 110 pounds. In all of her research into the requirements of becoming an officer at the Sometown Police Department, Lopez had somehow not discovered that to join the force, a candidate needed to be at least 5′2″ tall and weigh at least 125 pounds. These minimum height and weight requirements seemed outrageous to Lopez, and she sued the department and won. She joined the Sometown Police Department and proved to be a true asset to the force.

Questions

1. Did Juanita Lopez sue the Sometown Police Department on constitutional grounds? If so, what were they? If not, then how did she make her case?

2. If Juanita Lopez had been obese, would her case have succeeded? Why or why not?

3. What is the justification for heightened restrictions for police officers, concerning their appearance and behavior?

Case Study 4

Over the past two years, the Sometown Police Department had made active strides to increase diversity on its force. They had hired a number of minority and women officers, and had been rewarded with a better relationship with the Sometown community. Now the members of this new crop of junior officers were busily studying for the exam to make them eligible for promotion. The police chief was excited about having the face of the Sometown Police Department better match the face of Sometown.

Testastic, a testing consulting firm, created the exam designed to identify the best candidates for promotion. Testastic had an excellent reputation for creating tests that were job-specific and avoided elements that were likely to leave minorities and women at a disadvantage. Their methods were scientific, and they adhered to exacting standards. The Sometown Police chief was confident that the test would accurately measure the abilities of the officers and not provide any unfair advantages.

The day for the exam arrived, and the junior officers sat down at computer stations and took the Testastic test. Most of the officers felt confident about their performance and eagerly awaited the results. The results, however, left the police chief shocked and upset. While many of the junior officers did very well on the exam and qualified for promotion, there appeared to be a statistical disparity in pass rates for minority and female candidates. If the promotions were handed out on the basis of this exam, the department could open itself to charges of discrimination. The chief was not sure what to do.

Questions

1. The Sometown Police Department had made an effort to increase diversity on its police force. In attempting to create a test that was job-specific and nondiscriminatory, what was the department trying to avoid?

2. Which Supreme Court decision recognized this type of discrimination? In so doing, it increased the standard for compliance for which law?

3. Which Supreme Court case does the example from the Sometown Police Department resemble? What did the Court decide, and what was its reasoning? What type of discrimination did the plaintiff claim had happened?

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