This week, the Court addresses whether the dismissal of a
volunteer member of a municipal advisory board implicates the First
Amendment and considers a challenge to zoning ordinances designed
to limit sober living homes.
The Court holds that the First Amendment does not protect a
volunteer member of a municipal advisory board from dismissal by
the city councilperson who appointed her.
The panel: Judges Watford, Hurwitz, and
Vitaliano (E.D.N.Y.), with Judge Hurwitz writing the opinion.
Key highlight: "Three structural features
of the [municipal advisory board], taken together, legally make its
members public surrogates of the appointing councilperson. First,
each councilperson appoints one member to the board. Second, that
councilperson can remove her appointee at her discretion. Third,
the [municipal advisory board]'s purpose is to advise about
public policy—its legal duty is to interface with the City
Council's
