Opinion ID: 524995
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Interest in Moore's Speech

Text: 49 On the freedom of expression side of the balance, both Moore and the public have a strong interest in Moore's speech. The effectiveness of Fire Department services concerns the people of the City of Kilgore. Moore's informed speech provides the public with valuable information that is otherwise difficult to obtain unless an informed person speaks out. Moore also has a significant interest in speaking on this issue. Dissemination of information throughout the community may bring the community's suasion to bear on the issue of the effectiveness of the Fire Department. See Pickering v. Board of Education, 391 U.S. 563, 572, 88 S.Ct. 1731, 1736, 20 L.Ed.2d 811 (1968) (Teachers are, as a class, the members of the community most likely to have informed and definite opinions as to how funds alloted to the operation of the schools should be spent [a matter of public concern.] Accordingly, it is essential that they be able to speak out freely on such questions without fear of retaliatory dismissal). A speaker hopes that his or her speech will set afire the political conscience of the community. As an informed citizen, Moore's comments and insights constituted powerful knowledge concerning the effectiveness of the public entity, the Fire Department. In the long term, his speech is likely to help produce a fire department that is increasingly responsive to the needs of the citizenry. 50 The timing of Moore's speech certainly tilts in favor of the public nature of the speech; the speech occurred in response to two firefighters receiving injuries, one fatally, while fighting a fire. As to the manner, a portion of the speech was a bit acidic (I told you so). But the speech as a whole was directed more to the fire and the department's staffing than it was to Moore's past discussions with the City. The speech arose in the midst of a continuing dispute concerning the ability of the Fire Department to fight fires effectively. Moore hoped to spark a roaring and robust public debate concerning the issue. See New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 270, 84 S.Ct. 710, 720, 11 L.Ed.2d 686 (1964) ([D]ebate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open). 51 Thus, the interests of both Moore and the citizens of Kilgore in Moore's speech are extremely significant. Moore's speech does not merely touch upon matters of public concern in a marginal manner. His speech, considered as a whole, dwells at the center of the First Amendment, unlike in Connick v. Myers, 461 U.S. at 150, 154, 103 S.Ct. at 1691, 1693, (1983), in which the employee's questionnaire distributed to co-workers touched upon matters of public concern only in a more limited sense. 52