Can employees send emails of a political nature over public University email lists/forums?
It depends. The general rule from the State Ethics Commission under Massachusetts General Law (i.e., MGL) Chapter 268A and the Campaign Finance Commission under MGL Chapter 55 is that state employees are prohibited from engaging in partisan political activity during working hours and may not use public resources to advance political candidacies or to promote or oppose ballot questions. However, if an email is sent over what is considered a “public forum” bulletin board maintained by the University, that email is protected by the First Amendment and would not be regarded as the use of public resources in violation of MGL Chapter. 55 or 268A (provided an employee is not using significant work time for this purpose).
