Also known as: public officers · public official · public officials
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A person elected or appointed to a government position who exercises official authority and performs public duties under law.
Priya Prasad left her role as senior enforcement attorney at the state environmental agency after personally supervising a wetlands investigation of Meadowlands Development. She later joined a private firm that took on Meadowlands as a client in the same matter. The agency refused consent, so the firm could not proceed with the representation.
Pablo Perez, the county food safety director, sued a review site after it published an unverified accusation that he ignored violations in exchange for favors. The site had relied only on a rival's tip and fundraiser photos without checking records. Because Perez held public office, he had to prove actual malice to recover.
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Piper Patel, a city contract administrator, sued a blog for reporting that she fabricated safety certifications. The blog had published the story based on a single unverified source and a misread document. As a public official, Patel could recover only upon clear and convincing proof of actual malice.
Preston Pratt, a waste supervisor, relied on a municipal environmental officer's memo stating that treated industrial soil could be accepted at the landfill. The memo was later invalidated. Pratt's reasonable reliance on the official interpretation supplied a defense to the unlawful-dumping charge.
Pedro Pacheco left his post at a federal space agency after acquiring nonpublic data about a contractor. He later sought to represent a rival firm adverse to that contractor in a matter where the data could cause material disadvantage. The rule barred the representation absent express permission.
Paula Pierce, the state environmental director, sued to enjoin a hog operation whose waste lagoons created odors affecting an entire county. Because she held authority to represent the state in the matter, she possessed standing to seek abatement of the public nuisance.
No. A former public officer is disqualified only from matters in which the officer participated personally and substantially, unless the agency gives informed written consent. Screening and notice rules may allow the firm to proceed even when the individual lawyer is disqualified.
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Yes. A public official suing over statements concerning official conduct must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant acted with knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard for the truth.
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Reliance supplies a defense when the actor reasonably relies on an official statement of law later determined invalid, including an administrative order or official interpretation by the public officer charged with interpreting or enforcing the law.
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A public official or agency with authority to represent the state or a political subdivision may sue. A private party may also sue upon showing special harm different in kind from that suffered by the general public.
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…265 U. S. 487, which held that federal equity power could not be exercised to enjoin a state proceeding to remove a public officer. But these decisions explicitly reflect only a traditional limit upon equity jurisdiction, and not upon federal courts' power to inquire into matters of state governmental organization.…