Saturday, December 22, 2007  Corrections officers cannot belong
to the Outlaws Motorcycle Club  It took the Court of Appeals 77
pages to say this, but the long and the short of it is that if
you want to be a law enforcement officer, you probably shouldn't
join the Outlaws Motorcycle Club, an organization which the
government regards as a criminal enterprise, comparable to the
Hell's Angels. Since many innocents no doubt belong to the
Outlaws Motorcycle Club, the question is can the State of
Connecticut can fire corrections officers who belong to this
organization. Rejecting the officers' Freedom of Association
claims, the Second Circuit (Kearse, Sack and Stanceu) upheld
their terminations.  The case is Piscottano v. Murphy, decided
on December 21, 2007. As the Court of Appeals likes to do, it
uses this case to flesh out the state of the law on the right of
association under the First Amendment, outlining how the Supreme
Court has made it easier over the years to allow the government
to restrict certain First