Westmoreland v. Sutherland’s Empirical Analysis
662 F.3d 714 · 2011
Citation profile
7 federal appellate ·
Relationships
Applies 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Civil Rights Act of 1871 / Section 1983 (Ku Klux Klan Act))
Relies on Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corporation · Pickering v. Board of Education of Township High School District 205 Will County Illinois · Connick v. Myers · West v. Atkins · Garcetti v. Ceballos
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 29 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“(1) whether the speech was made pursuant to an employee’s official duties; (2) whether the speech was on a matter of public concern; (3) whether the government’s interests, as employer, in promoting the efficiency of the public service are sufficient to outweigh the plaintiffs free speech interests; (4) whether the protected speech was a motivating factor in the adverse employment action; and (5) whether the defendant would have reached the same employment decision in the absence of the protected conduct.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority“an individual's personal motives for speaking may dispositively determine whether that individual's speech addresses a matter of public concern.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Oakes v. Weaver“necessary for the entire expression to address matters of public concern, as long as some portion of the speech does”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Oakes v. Weaver
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.