Officers Membership to the KKK violates 1st Amendment?
Is a police officer who takes an oath to serve and protect unfit to wear a badge and carry a gun?
Appartently, legal experts are raising their voices and cautioning that the law is not clear cut on whether Robert E. Henderson, an 18-year veteran trooper, can be fired for belonging to the Knights Party.
Henderson, 49, was dismissed from the patrol March 15 after an internal investigation confirmed he had joined the group and posted messages to an online discussion group for party members.
His attorney, Vincent Valentino, said Henderson had resigned from the group and apologized to State Patrol Superintendent Bryan Tuma before he was fired.
He also was fired for violating a rule that bars troopers from associating with known felons.
Although it isn't illegal to be a member of a KKK group, having a trooper belong to a white supremacist group could create questions in the minds of the public as well as create dissension among other troopers.
In a statement released yesterday, the State Troopers Association of Nebraska (STAN) said it "shared the disgust" of those offended by recently reinstated trooper Robert Henderson.
The State Patrol fired Henderson in March for conduct unbecoming an officer after it discovered that he was a member of the Knights Party, which has ties to the Ku Klux Klan.
Last week an arbitrator ruled in favor of Henderson, ordering his reinstatement and payment of back wages.
Friday, Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning went to court to appeal the arbitrator's decision.
Bruning said, "The integrity of Nebraska's law enforcement is at risk. The Constitution does not require law enforcement to employ anyone tied to the KKK."
The arbitrator's ruling said that the Nebraska State Patrol failed to demonstrate why Henderson posed a threat to the public or the patrol. Paul Caffera's 48-page report is highly critical of how the State Patrol has handled this disciplinary case. Caffera said he shares "the disgust" the patrol has in Henderson's decision to align himself with the Ku Klux Klan, but Caffera said his ruling is based only on law, and in this case the Patrol did not prove Henderson's firing was justified under terms of the collective bargaining agreement.
The KKK's history of violence make a trooper's involvement with the organization suspect. He and Bruning said that the White Knights is known to be a non-violent group that was retooled in the 1990s after David Duke headed the organization.
Photo: Robert Henderson is pictured in this undated Nebraska State Patrol file photo. Henderson, who was fired from his job as a Nebraska State Trooper in February 2006 after admitting he was a member of a white-supremacist group, had his firing overturned by an arbitrator in August. Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning says the state will appeal the arbitrator's ruling.
Appartently, legal experts are raising their voices and cautioning that the law is not clear cut on whether Robert E. Henderson, an 18-year veteran trooper, can be fired for belonging to the Knights Party.
Henderson, 49, was dismissed from the patrol March 15 after an internal investigation confirmed he had joined the group and posted messages to an online discussion group for party members.
His attorney, Vincent Valentino, said Henderson had resigned from the group and apologized to State Patrol Superintendent Bryan Tuma before he was fired.
He also was fired for violating a rule that bars troopers from associating with known felons.
Although it isn't illegal to be a member of a KKK group, having a trooper belong to a white supremacist group could create questions in the minds of the public as well as create dissension among other troopers.
In a statement released yesterday, the State Troopers Association of Nebraska (STAN) said it "shared the disgust" of those offended by recently reinstated trooper Robert Henderson.
The State Patrol fired Henderson in March for conduct unbecoming an officer after it discovered that he was a member of the Knights Party, which has ties to the Ku Klux Klan.
Last week an arbitrator ruled in favor of Henderson, ordering his reinstatement and payment of back wages.
Friday, Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning went to court to appeal the arbitrator's decision.
Bruning said, "The integrity of Nebraska's law enforcement is at risk. The Constitution does not require law enforcement to employ anyone tied to the KKK."
The arbitrator's ruling said that the Nebraska State Patrol failed to demonstrate why Henderson posed a threat to the public or the patrol. Paul Caffera's 48-page report is highly critical of how the State Patrol has handled this disciplinary case. Caffera said he shares "the disgust" the patrol has in Henderson's decision to align himself with the Ku Klux Klan, but Caffera said his ruling is based only on law, and in this case the Patrol did not prove Henderson's firing was justified under terms of the collective bargaining agreement.
The KKK's history of violence make a trooper's involvement with the organization suspect. He and Bruning said that the White Knights is known to be a non-violent group that was retooled in the 1990s after David Duke headed the organization.
Photo: Robert Henderson is pictured in this undated Nebraska State Patrol file photo. Henderson, who was fired from his job as a Nebraska State Trooper in February 2006 after admitting he was a member of a white-supremacist group, had his firing overturned by an arbitrator in August. Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning says the state will appeal the arbitrator's ruling.
