Peter Strzok sues FBI for firing him over anti-Trump texts

[Benton]

(08-08-2019, 08:49 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: He wasn't the one that made the statements public, though. I just have a problem with the assumption that private correspondences, if made public by a third party, can be used against you by and employer, and especially by the government. That is a concerning situation when it comes to our privacy rights and our rights of free expression.

It's a simplistic view, but if you tell someone else, it's not private. The exception there is in some regards to legal representation and a marriage. Spousal communications and spousal testimony has been laid out... I don't think there's been any case law to extend that to side pieces.

I have a right to privacy. I have a right to an opinion. If I keep that to myself or share it to my wife, I have a reasonable expectation for that to remain a non-issue. If I go to a bar, pick up a chick, tell her my opinion and she posts it to Facebook... that's my fault.

That's the nature of some jobs. At almost every newspaper I was at, you were prohibited from expressing political opinions. You were also prohibited from serving on civic boards or groups, but that aside, you couldn't be your local Democratic Chair or join your local Republican Women's Club without risk of being fired. That's the due because the job involves accusations of bias. If you don't like it, you're entitled to find a different job, or work for a different organization (some wear their partisanship like a badge).

In the end, all your freedoms are great, but nearly all of them have a reasonable expectation of limitation from some jobs. It's your right against unreasonable searches... but if you fly commuter planes for a living you can reasonably expect to get drug tested from time to time.