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Washington, D.C.--The rights of public employees to speak to the media on the policies and activities of their agencies got a strong endorsement in a federal appeals court decision issued on March 19 in Harman v. City of New York.

The U. S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit used a previously successful National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) suit as primary support for its conclusion that clearance and prior approval requirements adopted by New York City child welfare agencies violated the First Amendment.

The NTEU case, U.S. v. NTEU. 513 U.S. 454 (1995), was the union's successful challenge to the so?called "honoraria" ban.

NTEU President Robert M. Tobias said the union filed an amicus brief in the New York case "to protect and advance the principles" established in the honoraria case, especially the legal doctrine that government may imposeprospective restrictions only when it can demonstrate that such speech would have a "necessary impact on the actual operation" of the government.

The appeals court decision, Tobias said, "will aid NTEU in quelling the recurring attempts by some management officials to restrict employee access to the media."

Federal agencies, he noted, may legitimately prohibit disclosure of confidential information and may discipline employees for violating that rule. However, he added, they may not prohibit employee contacts with the media or impose a prior clearance and approval process except in "that rare case" where the government can demonstrate actual harm to its interests that outweigh employee First Amendment rights.

The court, citing the 1995 NTEU Supreme Court victory, said the harm caused by unrestricted speech must be "real, not merely conjectural" and that the clearance and approval requirements would in fact alleviate that harm in a "direct and material way."