9th Cir.;
15-16571

The court of appeals affirmed a judgment. The court held that a ban on highway patrol officers' communications with the public violated the First Amendment.

Matt Moonin was a trooper in the Nevada Highway Patrol (NHP) canine drug interdiction (K9) program. Moonin's superor, Major Kevin Tice, sent an email to Moonin and his fellow K9 officers instructing them to have “NO direct contact” with any nondepartmental personnel for the purpose of discussing the K9 program. The email further directed that all such communication be “forwarded for approval” to the trooper's “chain-of-command,” and that any communication would be “accomplished by the appropriate manager/commander if deemed appropriate.” The apparent impetus for the email was a private canine organization's alleged “intentional meddling” into how the NHP K9 unit was being run. According to Tice, “severing contact with members” of that organization “was appropriate to eliminate their inappropriate influence and access.” Moonin and fellow troopers filed suit, alleging that the policy announced in Tice's email violated the First Amendment by imposing an impermissible prior restraint on speech.