Rhetorical Analysis Of Jeffery Heffernan s Speech

Opening Statement: It is our strong belief however, that this man whilst in uniform, went to a political campaign office and picked up a campaign sign. However, to his own omission, Jeffery Heffernan claimed he was not expressing any political viewpoint or making a statement of speech. He claimed he had absolutely no political affiliation with this campaign and picked the sign up as an errand for his mother, as if he were picking up a quart of milk for her. Then, this man contradicts himself by going to the courts, saying his freedom of speech was violated. This man has no right to collect money from the city of Paterson for his freedom of speech that was never violated at all. Background: In 2006, Jeffrey Heffernan, a police†¦show more content†¦Therefore, his first amendment was not violated. 2. Heffernan is not taking a stand, but acting neutral because he says that he is not supporting either candidate. He had no retaliation claim, meaning that he was just doing nothing. 3. Perceived speech is not the same as actual speech. The officer caught Heffernan picking up the sign and anticipated it as actual political speech. It was perceived as actual speech, but Heffernan was never exercising his first amendment right of free speech. Because of this, the first amendment does not protect him. 4. You should not be politically involved while in uniform, even if you are currently not on duty. Claiming that he was not politically involved, Heffernan said that he was picking up the sign for his mother, and not for any political reasons. Although he was in uniform, he was not politically involved, meaning that he did nothing legally wrong. Argument in Full: To begin, while Officer Heffernan picked up a candidate sign, according to his own words, he wasn’t actually expressing his political beliefs. This means it wouldn t be credible at all to say that the first amendment protects his rights. People don t use their freedom of speech to run errands. Heffernan states himself that he did not actually participate in political speech, as he was just picking up the campaign sign for his mother. This demonstrates that he was