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Ordinance of the County of Allegheny, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, that protects the Freedom of Expression.
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WHEREAS, one's First Amendment rights are a hallmark to a great society, freedoms that the Supreme Court has called “the matrix, the indispensable condition of nearly every other form of freedom” from which all other fundamental rights are derived; and
WHEREAS, Allegheny County has, and preserves, the ability to establish limitations upon the First Amendment rights of County employees while in the work place; and
WHEREAS, Allegheny County contracts each year with thousands of third parties, an action through which the County has the potential to use its economic leverage to coerce or induce contracting third parties to state, or not state, certain views; and
WHEREAS, policy set by Allegheny County government should neither discriminate against nor favor companies or individuals that exercise their First Amendment rights;
The Council of the County of Allegheny hereby enacts as follows:
SECTION 1.
Allegheny County is prohibited from passing any ordinance or resolution that infringes upon a third party's right to free expression.
SECTION 2. If any provision of this Ordinance shall be determined to be unlawful, invalid, void or unenforceable, then that provision shall be considered severable from the remaining provisions of this Ordinance which shall be in full force and effect.
SECTION 3. Any Resolution or Ordinance or part thereof conflicting with the provisions of this Ordinance is hereby repealed so far as the same affects this Ordinance.