Judge - NYC erred in firing police officer, firefighters

NEW YORK -- The city violated the First Amendment rights of two firefighters and a police officer when it fired them for riding on a parade float in blackface in 1998, a judge ruled Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge John E. Sprizzo said the government "may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because a segment of society finds it offensive."

He rejected statements by former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani that the firings stemmed from concerns over civil unrest, saying he concluded that the "true motivation" was Giuliani's belief that the float was a "disgusting display of racism."

Giuliani, who was listed as a defendant in the case, predicted on Tuesday that the ruling eventually will be reversed, saying it "flies in the face of any rational decision a city could make in a case like this."

He said the city was well within its discretion to say that it cannot have the confidence of its citizens "if it has a police officer and firefighters who engage in racial mockery."

Those on the Labor Day float threw watermelon and fried chicken to paradegoers, the city contended. They also made it appear as if one of the men in blackface was being dragged -- not long after the highly publicized case of a black man in Texas who was dragged to his death from a pickup truck, city officials said.

The white employees -- firefighters Jonathan Walters and Robert Steiner and police officer Joseph Locurto -- sued the city to get their jobs back.

They testified that they had no racist intent and that their actions were protected by the First Amendment because the float, titled "Black to the Future: 2098," was a parody and should be protected by the First Amendment. They also argued they were poking fun at racist views in the predominantly white Queens neighborhood.

Sprizzo ruled after hearing evidence earlier this year, including testimony from Giuliani, who said he urged the firing of the three employees because he feared the controversy might lead to race riots.

At a hearing earlier this year, Sprizzo had cautioned a city lawyer that the mayor needed actual evidence the racism would cause disruption -- not just a belief.

"It's so easy to slip into a kind of political correctness that sooner or later will be the end of the First Amendment," the judge said at the time.

Chris Dunn, an attorney with the New York Civil Liberties Union, said the ruling "sends a message that city employees can't be scapegoated to serve a mayor's political agenda and that's exactly what happened here."

Dunn, who represents Locurto, said he had argued from the start that Giuliani ordered the firing of Locurto, "not out of a concern for any disruption but to atone for the mayor's own racial insensitivity."

Michael N. Block, a lawyer for Walters, said he and his client were "very pleased." Robert Didio, a lawyer for Steiner, said he was "absolutely thrilled."