Ex-trooper with KKK ties may lose Nebraska law enforcement certificate. journalstar.com. The Nebraska Police Standards Advisory Council is recommending that law enforcement certification be revoked for Robert Henderson, who was fired by the state patrol for his ties to the Ku Klux Klan. Henderson asked the council on Wednesday to let him keep his certification so he can work as a law officer elsewhere in Nebraska. But the council voted to revoke his certification, citing his neglect of duty and his emotional incapacity. The decision goes to the Nebraska Crime Commission for approval. Henderson was dismissed in 2006 after it was discovered he had joined a racist group. He told an investigator he joined the Knights Party in June 2004. Henderson appealed his dismissal to the Nebraska Supreme Court, State v. Henderson, 277 Neb. 240 (2009) which upheld the firing. I didn't know that practicing your first amendment rights off duty adversely affected your attention to duties and emotional capacity.

Nebraska Supreme Court orders new arguments in State Trooper's case. Omaha.com The Nebraska Supreme Court has ordered a second round of oral arguments in the case of a Nebraska State Patrol trooper who was fired for joining a group affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan. In its order, the court told attorneys in the case of Robert E. Henderson to submit additional legal briefs by Aug. 1 and to be ready for a new hearing in September. The court said the attorneys should address four questions in their arguments: collective bargaining agreements, constitutional rights, binding arbitration and legal precedent. Henderson's attorney, Vincent Valentino, said the court's order is not routine but is not unprecedented. He said the four questions give little indication of the court's leanings. A spokeswoman for the Attorney General's Office said only that state lawyers would provide the information the court requested. The case began when the State Patrol fired Henderson, of Omaha, for joining the Knights Party, which describes itself as the oldest, largest and most-active Klan organization in the United States. An internal investigation confirmed that Henderson had joined the party and posted messages to an online discussion group for party members. He said he joined as a way to vent his frustrations over his wife leaving him for a Hispanic man. Henderson appealed his firing to an independent arbitrator in 2006, as allowed by the collective bargaining agreement covering state troopers. The arbitrator ruled in his favor, saying that Henderson's firing violated his First Amendment and due process rights. Attorney General Jon Bruning appealed the arbitrator's ruling, arguing that Nebraska's public policy against racism should bar Henderson from being reinstated. Lancaster County District Judge Jeffre Cheuvront upheld Henderson's firing.