Joshua Gray is a private investigator in Massachusetts who wishes to expand his business into his home state of Maine. He also writes about what he sees as abusive police practices. But when Gray used Facebook to criticize the conduct employees of the Maine Department of Public Safety in a fatal shooting, that very same Department denied his application for a professional investigator’s license. The reason? According to the Department, because of a handful of alleged factual errors in his Facebook posts, Gray lacks the “good moral character” required for licensure. In other words, the Department is denying Gray a license because it does not like what he has to say about the conduct of its officers in a deadly police shooting.
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Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing | Occupational Speech
Joshua Gray criticized the police—so they denied him an occupational license
Joshua Gray, a private investigator, wanted to expand his business into his home state of Maine. In violation of his First Amendment rights, the state denied his request for a license, because he has criticized…