Difficult Civil Rights Question

[richlevy]

State fights to fire trooper tied to Klan

This brings up interesting questions about rights as a citizen and rights as a public servant. Everyone knows that gays can be barred from the military (and until recently the FBI) and that the code of conduct restricts other rights while in uniform.

Are police in the same position? Can an officer be held to a different standard of conduct as a civilian? Considering the a police officer has power to arrest, detain, and even assault citizens, can an officers off-duty interests be used as a reason to fire them or not hire them?

Would the same be true of a public official. If someone was hired as a government employee and this became known, could/should they be fired?

It sounds like this guy was dealing with his frustrations over his personal life and made a bad decision. It's hard to judge whether his apology was sincere. The question is whether this disqualifies him for the rest of his life.

OMAHA, Nebraska (AP) -- Robert Henderson was not fired as a state trooper because he belonged to the Ku Klux Klan and another white supremacist group, authorities said.
Instead, he was ousted because he could not uphold public trust while participating in such groups, they said.
An arbitrator disagreed, ordering the State Patrol to reinstate Henderson within 60 days and pay him back wages. The state went to court Friday to keep him off the force.

He said Henderson was entitled to his First Amendment rights of free speech and that the state violated the troopers' contract, in part when it fired Henderson "because of his association with the Knights Party ... and the Ku Klux Klan."
According to a copy of Caffera's ruling, Henderson was interviewed by a patrol captain in February. He confirmed he had been a member of the Knights Party since June 2004 and made postings on its members-only Web site while off-duty.
Henderson also said he had joined the KKK, according to the arbitrator's report. He did so, he said, for two reasons: His wife had "divorced him for a minority" and the KKK gave him an avenue to vent his frustration.

Valentino said Henderson has resigned his Knights Party membership and apologized to the State Patrol commander, Col. Bryan Tuma. The attorney also said Bruning and Tuma blew Henderson's membership and activities out of proportion.
"Bob Henderson wasn't running around in a sheet and hood," he said.
Besides, Valentino said, "State employees have a right to think in private what they think."
Tuma said a review of Henderson's record showed no pattern of bias or misconduct against minorities.
"There were no concerns whatsoever that he was engaged in any profiling or any biased treatment of any minority," he said.
Nonetheless, Bruning said, "This trooper can join the KKK, but he can't remain a trooper while he is a member."