GARRITY RIGHTS AND PUBLIC EMPLOYEES

The Garrity rule comes from the United States Supreme Court case of Garrity v. New Jersey. It is the right of a law enforcement officer1 to be free from compulsory self-incrimination. The basic thrust of the Garrity Rule is that a department member may be compelled to give statements under threat of discipline or discharge but those statements may not be used in the criminal prosecution of the individual officer. The courts have held that choosing to work in a police department does not give a person a "watered-down" version of their Fifth Amendment2 right against self-incrimination.  This also applies to fire departments.

garrity.pdf