Via v. Taylor.

• Position: EX-OFFENDERS - Brief Article

U.S. District Court

ASSOCIATION

Via v. Taylor, 224 F.Supp.2d 753 (D.Del. 2002). A former correctional officer brought an action against corrections officials alleging that she was wrongfully terminated because of her off-duty relationship with a paroled former inmate. The district court held that the corrections department code of conduct that prohibited off-duty personal contact with offenders was not substantially related to the state's interest in the orderly function of prisons and concerns about being discredited in the public eye. The court found no evidence that the officer's relationship with a former inmate had any impact on staff or inmates. The court noted that the code did not prohibit relationships between prison employees and persons outside the prison system who knew inmates who were under the employees' supervision, and that the officer's job performance was not negatively impacted by her association with the former inmate. The court held that the conduct code was void because of it was vague and overly broad, and violated the officer's off-duty rights to personal association and privacy. The...