McGuire v. Warren’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 4 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Her allegations assert, instead, that she was acting pursuant to her responsibilities as a contractor at the time of the particular speech she identifies in the complaint. In Garcetti v. Ceballos, — U.S.-, 126 S.Ct. 1951 , 164 L.Ed.2d 689 (2006), which was decided after the complaint was filed and the motion for judgment on the pleadings was granted by the district court, the Supreme Court decided: “[W]hen public employees make statements pursuant to their official duties, the employees are not speaking as citizens for First Amendment purposes, and the Constitution does not insulate their communications from employer discipline.” Id. at 1959 . For that reason alone, the district court’s judgment on the pleadings was, on the basis of Ceballos , proper. McGuire might be able to amend her complaint in light of Ceballos to include specific allegations as to specific statements she may have made about a matter of public concern as a private citizen that were a “motivating factor” for the alleged adverse employment action against her; indeed, McGuire’s counsel asserted at oral argument that she could add such allegations if given the opportunity. We therefore vacate the judgment of the district court and remand the matter to the district court solely for the purpose of permitting McGuire to make, within 45 days of the issuance of the mandate herein, a motion to serve and file an amended complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45[sic] ....”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 490 F. Supp. 2d 331 - McGuire v. Warren