Supreme Court reverses Petition Clause retaliation claim ruling

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] on Monday ruled [opinion, PDF] in Borough of Duryea v. Guarnieri [Cornell LII backgrounder; JURIST report] that state and local government employees may not sue their employers for retaliation under the Petition Clause [FAC backgrounder] of the First Amendment when they petition the government on matters of private concern. To show that an employer interfered with rights under the Speech Clause of the First Amendment, an employee must show that…