George M. Weeks, III v. Robert Bayer, Individually and in His Capacity as Director, Nevada Department of Prisons

McKEOWN, Circuit Judge:

In its capacity as a public employer, the state bears special constitutional burdens. Notably, the First Amendment restricts the state’s ability to fire employees who speak out on matters of public concern. But this doctrine is limited; after all, “the First Amendment does not require a public office to be run as a roundtable for employee complaints over internal office affairs.” Connick v. Myers, 461 U.S. 138, 149, 103 S.Ct. 1684, 75 L.Ed.2d 708 (1983). Here, we must determine whether Mr. Weeks’s single comment regarding the funding status of a government program, made…