Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2024

Jonathan Burnette v. New Orleans Police Department

Jonathan Burnette v. New Orleans Police Department
Louisiana Court of Appeal · Decided March 6, 2024

Jonathan Burnette v. New Orleans Police Department

Concurring Opinion

JONATHAN BURNETTE * NO. 2023-CA-0684 VERSUS * COURT OF APPEAL NEW ORLEANS POLICE * FOURTH CIRCUIT DEPARTMENT * STATE OF LOUISIANA * * *******

RML LEDET, J., CONCURS WITH REASONS Officer Jonathan Burnette is charged with a single instance of violating the following New Orleans Police Department (“NOPD”) rule: Employees shall not post any material on the internet including but not limited to photos, videos, word documents, etc. that violates any local, state, or federal law, and/or embarrasses, humiliates, discredits or harms the operations and reputation of the Police Department or any of its members.

V I. Rule 3: Professional Conduct; Paragraph 13: Social Networking Websites, Facebook, MySpace, Print or Transmitted Media. Officer Burnette made the post during a national law enforcement conference.

Based on the circumstances of the case, I cannot find that the NOPD’s imposition of a five-day suspension was an abuse of discretion. For these reasons, I concur in the majority’s decision to affirm.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.