Last year, Dr. Shannon “SJ” Joslin — a ranger and biologist at Yosemite National Park — took part in a brief act of expression on one of America’s most iconic landscapes.
On their day off, SJ and a group of friends unfurled a transgender pride flag on El Capitan for less than three hours before voluntarily taking it down. For decades, climbers at Yosemite have displayed banners and messages there — political and non-political alike. Until SJ, no one had ever been disciplined for doing so.
SJ was fired anyway.
The National Park Service escalated further by opening a criminal investigation — an unprecedented response to peaceful expression on public lands. This week, SJ filed a federal lawsuit seeking reinstatement and damages, arguing they were targeted for expressing a disfavored viewpoint in violation of their First Amendment rights. SJ also filed a motion for preliminary injunction to stop the significant and ongoing harm resulting from the illegal firing and criminal investigation.
This isn’t really about a flag.
It’s about whether public employees are still allowed to speak as private citizens — and what it means for environmental protection, public lands, and public health when government workers are punished for speaking honestly.
This Isn’t an Isolated Case
At PEER, we don’t see SJ’s experience as a one-off.
The Trump administration is engaging in an unprecedented campaign to narrow federal workers’ free speech rights and aggressively target employees perceived as disloyal. Across agencies, employees are being disciplined not for misconduct, but for speech that challenges political leadership.
For example, we represent EPA employees who were fired after publicly signing a June 30, 2025 open letter to Administrator Lee Zeldin and members of Congress. The letter protested the politicization of science at the agency and warned that EPA’s actions under this administration were endangering public health and the environment.
We also represent Carolyn McConnell, an attorney at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) who was threatened with criminal prosecution for co-authoring an op-ed supporting national park staffing on her own time. Her advocacy had nothing to do with her official duties — yet she was warned that continuing to speak publicly could cost her job. If the NLRB’s interpretation of the law is allowed to stand, it will give an authoritarian regime a tool to stifle all federal workers.
Different agencies. Different circumstances. Same outcome: employees disciplined for speech leadership didn’t like.
Over time, that pattern doesn’t just punish individuals — it reshapes institutions.
The message is clear: speak out, and you risk your career.
That doesn’t just hurt individuals. It changes how agencies operate.
When scientists, rangers, inspectors, and analysts learn that raising concerns brings retaliation, information stops moving upward. Problems stay buried. Decisions get made without scrutiny. Corruption grows. The public loses one of its most important lines of defense.
Why This Matters for the Environment and Public Health
Federal employees are often the first to see when environmental protections are weakened, when science is sidelined, or when political pressure overrides professional judgment.
Park rangers protect fragile ecosystems and cultural resources. Scientists track toxic exposures and climate impacts. Career staff enforce laws that keep pollution out of our air and water.
These aren’t political actors. They’re public servants doing their jobs.
When they’re intimidated into silence, environmental harm doesn’t magically disappear — it just becomes more difficult to detect and harder to stop.
SJ’s case makes that painfully obvious. Yosemite isn’t just a national park; it represents generations of conservation work. If a ranger-biologist can be fired and criminally investigated for peaceful expression on their own time, every federal employee is paying attention.
They’re being shown that constitutional rights may evaporate the moment they become inconvenient.
Selective Enforcement Is Not Accountability
The administration has pointed to SJ’s probationary status to justify the termination. But probationary status doesn’t erase First Amendment protections. And it doesn’t explain why long-standing practices at Yosemite suddenly became grounds for dismissal — only when a transgender pride flag was involved.
That’s selective enforcement.
And selective enforcement aimed at silencing a particular viewpoint cuts straight against constitutional protections. It also sends a warning to thousands of public employees: even off-duty speech can cost you your livelihood.
Governance by Intimidation Carries Real Consequences
What we’re seeing is a shift toward governance by intimidation.
Employees are being asked to do their jobs in an environment where transparency is shrinking, oversight is politicized, and dissent is treated as disloyalty. That might give leadership short-term control, but it does real damage to institutions that exist to protect public health and natural resources.
At PEER, we hear from government professionals every day who just want to do their jobs with integrity. Many reach out quietly. They’re worried about retaliation. Unsure of their rights. Afraid of what speaking up could mean for their families.
That’s not how government is supposed to work.
Accountability depends on professional independence and the ability to raise concerns without fear.
What Happens Now
SJ’s lawsuit seeks reinstatement, damages, and recognition that public employees don’t surrender their constitutional rights when they enter government service. Carolyn McConnell’s case challenges whether agencies can threaten prosecution simply to silence off-duty advocacy. Together, these cases will help determine whether constitutional protections still apply inside government.
But this goes well beyond any single lawsuit.
If agencies are allowed to punish speech they don’t like — especially when it touches on identity, science, or environmental protection — silence becomes the norm.
And when silence becomes normal, everyone loses.
Tim Whitehouse is the Executive Director at PEER.
