Upcoming Webinar

Public Employees, Free Speech, and the Rise of Authoritarianism: Why it Matters for the Environment

Over the past several decades, the government has increasingly sought to restrict government employees’ free speech rights and to close pathways through which they can express dissent and safely report wrongdoing. This trend has accelerated under the Trump administration, which is engaging in an unprecedented attack on federal workers’ free speech rights and aggressively targeting employees perceived as disloyal.

This webinar provides a timely examination of the increasingly complex legal, political, and social landscape impacting federal and state employees’ free speech rights, both when speaking in their official capacity and as private citizens. It also examines why freedom of speech in government is critical to protecting the environment, public health, and public lands.

Key topics will include:

• • Why free speech and the right to dissent are critical at this time in our nation’s history, and why these rights matter for protecting the environment, our public lands, and public health.
  • An overview of the limits of First Amendment protections in federal government employment, including key considerations for federal employees when speaking publicly or privately about wrongdoing within their agencies.
  • What the future of free speech in the government may look like, and what steps we can take to protect free speech rights.

Agenda

Free Speech, the Right to Dissent, and Whistleblowing

• • Joanna Citron Day, JD, General Counsel, PEER
  • Sarah Sullivant, Former Tribal Section Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Government Attempts to Restraint Private Social Activism

• • Colleen Zimmerman, Staff Counsel, PEER
  • Carolyn McConnell, Attorney, National Labor Relations Board

Free Speech, Social Media and Corporate Influence

• • Lena Shapiro, JD, Director of the First Amendment Law Clinic, University of Illinois College of Law
  • Derric Pennington, PhD, Former Economic Policy Analyst, Minnesota Pollution ​Control Agency

Summary Thoughts

• • Paula Dinerstein, Senior Counsel, PEER