Thread by @TPFNewsNow

#KelvinCochran actually lost his case against the City of Atlanta, yet Alliance Defending Freedom is spinning it as a win. Full explanation below.

1. Kelvin claimed that his firing violated his 1st Amendment rights to free speech at his employment. The court disagreed with his finding. When placed against the Pickering test, Cochran's claims fails, and fails miserably.

2. Kelvin and ADF's claim that his free speech, while serving as a representative of the Atlanta Fire Department, an entity who is representative of the City of Atlanta, was violated, fails the 4-part Pickering test set forth by #SCOTUS. His speech disrupted work for others.

3. On the freedom of association 1st Amendment claim, Cochran and ADF failed again. The court sided with the City of Atlanta. What this means is simple, Kelvin Cochran's firing was 100% constitutional, and it did not violate his 1st Amendment freedom of speech.

4. The only part of the case that ADF "won" is being blown hugely out of purportion. The City of Atlanta's pre-clearance rules were ruled unconstitutional, & the court sided against Cochran's claims of free speech violation, meaning, thus, that his firing was 100% legal.

5. Also, in the ruling, the court finds that the City of Atlanta can fire individuals for any reason, at any time. This part of the ruling flies in the face of the ADF press release, which claims that Cochran won his case. He did not. The city of Atlanta won.

6. In conclusion: The city won in its arguments on 1) 1st Amendment retaliation 2) 1st Amendment freedom of association retaliation 3) viewpoint discrimination 4) no religious tests clause of Constitution 5) 14th Amendment due process Cochran only "won" on prior restraint.

7. For those who want to read the ruling in full, that has been used in screenshots, here's the full ruling in Cochran v. City of Atlanta. adfmedia.org/files/CochranD…

*Further updates will be threaded below if any occur, or if further commentary arises.

UPDATE 1: Here's more confirmation on what I shared about, courtesy of .@EQCF: in case of former Atlanta fire chief Kelvin Cochran (rep'd by ADF), who claims his firing was religious discrimination, fed judge rules in favor of ATL on all but 2 claims. bit.ly/2oX5eCt

UPDATE 2: Summary Judgment in favor of Cochran on 2 claims re ATL's Pre-Clearance Rules: prior restraint and unbridled discretion (see pg 16); All other claims, including 1A free speech retaliation, association, viewpoint discrim, etc. in favor of Defendants - .@EQCF