Opinion ID: 2266316
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: The act of voting by a public officer is protected speech under the First Amendment

Text: Initially, we must determine whether NRS 281A.420 regulates protected speech under the First Amendment. Under the First Amendment, Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech. U.S. Const. amend. I. The First Amendment applies to state governments through the Fourteenth Amendment. See Gitlow v. New York, 268 U.S. 652, 666, 45 S.Ct. 625, 69 L.Ed. 1138 (1925). Although this court has not directly addressed whether voting on matters by an elected public officer is protected speech, other courts have recognized that [t]here is no question that political expression such as [a city council member's] positions and votes on City matters is protected speech under the First Amendment. Colson v. Grohman, 174 F.3d 498, 506 (5th Cir.1999); accord Connick v. Myers, 461 U.S. 138, 145, 103 S.Ct. 1684, 75 L.Ed.2d 708 (1983) ([T]he Court has frequently reaffirmed that speech on public issues occupies the `highest rung of the hierarchy of First Amendment values,' and is entitled to special protection. (quoting NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware Co., 458 U.S. 886, 913, 102 S.Ct. 3409, 73 L.Ed.2d 1215 (1982))); see also Miller v. Town of Hull, Mass., 878 F.2d 523, 532 (1st Cir.1989) (stating that we have no difficulty finding that the act of voting on public issues by a member of a public agency or board comes within the freedom of speech guarantee of the first amendment). Recently we recognized in Commission on Ethics v. Hardy, 125 Nev. ___, ___, 212 P.3d 1098, 1106 (2009), that voting on legislation is a core legislative function. [7] Because voting is a core legislative function, it follows that voting serves an important role in political speech. Based on our recognition of voting as a core legislative function, and in connection with other jurisdictions' holdings that voting in a legislative setting is protected speech, we conclude that voting by an elected public officer on public issues is protected speech under the First Amendment.