Although a legal review has said the practice is unconstitutional, the Courier Journal article says that its review of “35 Kentucky state and local agencies’ policies found that 70% restrict or prohibit employees from talking to news outlets….”
“Punishments are rarely imposed by local and state agencies for violations, but in July 2022, then-LMPD Chief Erika Shields suspended Officer Donavis Duncan for two days without pay for giving several interviews to news outlets about the death of Breonna Taylor, who lived in his apartment building,” the article says.According to the Courier Journal the state attorney general’s office says, “Employees shall refrain from commenting to the media on matters involving office policy, cases, opinions and investigations or any other business of the Office of the Attorney General.” The policy adds that any employee “who fails to follow this policy may be subject to corrective disciplinary action up to and including dismissal.”
The article quotes Frank LoMonte, a First Amendment attorney and now counsel for CNN, as saying: “Though the practice of gagging public employees from giving unapproved interviews is pervasive across all levels of government, decades’ worth of First Amendment caselaw demonstrates that blanket restrictions on speaking to the media are legally unenforceable.”
Many of the same type policies are in effect in many state and localities, according to surveys sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists.
The article is on the newspaper’s site. A firewall applies.
