Deputy Marshal Files Suit Over Gag Rules : Individual rights: His superiors and six judges are accused of violating free speech. Deputies cannot make certain public statements or criticize county agencies.

A deputy marshal who was reprimanded after he spoke to the news media about crime and parking problems at the Orange County Civic Center sued his superior officers and six judges Tuesday, alleging that they have violated his constitutional right of free speech.

Richard H. Emmons filed the federal civil rights suit to stop the marshal’s office from enforcing regulations that have become the target of complaints by deputy marshals concerned that they cannot speak out on issues important to the public.

“I am conscious of my peers depending on me in this,” said Emmons, who has been a deputy marshal for six years and a peace officer for almost 10. “I am doing something that has never been done before.”

Emmons sued Marshal Michael S. Carona, Asst. Marshal James L. Hill, Capt. Donald Spears, Lt. Gary G. Tackett, Lt. Michael Padore, Superior Court Presiding Judge Richard W. Stanford, Superior Court Judges Robert B. Hutson, Kathleen O’Leary and Manuel A. Ramirez, and Municipal Court Judges Frank Fasel and Arthur G. Koelle.

The defendants oversee and promulgate regulations for 305 deputy marshals, who are the police force for the county court system.

Emmons’ lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, seeks an undisclosed amount in monetary damages and a court order to halt imposing regulations relating to free speech.

Two of the judges and Capt. Spears, a spokesman for the marshal’s service, declined to comment on Emmons’ lawsuit because they said they had not seen the allegations.

But they said they are not aware of any other controversies or grievances related to the First Amendment.

“I have never dealt with free-speech issues in the last six to eight years I have been involved,” said Judge Hutson, chairman of an oversight committee for the marshal’s office. “There are various levels of the grievance process, and those grievances might not have gotten to us.”

Among other things, the regulations state that deputies cannot involve the marshal’s service in their public discussions of political, religious or controversial subjects.

Deputies are prohibited from making certain public statements without approval and cannot criticize any county agency or official, including the marshal’s service. The regulations further bar speeches deemed to be in bad taste.

“As a deputy marshal, you have a certain responsibility to carry out regulations,” said Meir J. Westreich, Emmons’ attorney. “But these rules are too broad and vague. They are not defensible under the First Amendment. . . . You can’t even tell people you’re a deputy marshal.”

Emmons alleges that his problems began at work in March, 1989, when no one in the marshal’s service notified him that he might have been exposed to hepatitis during his duties. He contends that he was subsequently criticized for complaining about the lack of notice.

Five months later, Emmons allegedly received what he calls an unjustified reprimand for improperly restraining a courthouse prisoner. Other deputies who admitted similar conduct were not disciplined, he alleges.

Then, in October, 1989, Emmons detailed for a local newspaper his longstanding concerns about a lack of safety and security in county parking lots around the Civic Center in Santa Ana. He criticized county officials in the article, and a photo of him in his khaki uniform was published.

Shortly thereafter, the lawsuit states, Emmons was reprimanded for insubordination, criticizing county officials and expressing an opinion on a controversial matter.

He alleges that since the article appeared he has been treated unfairly by the department in other incidents, including unwarranted internal affairs investigations and orders forbidding him to arrest any court employee.

Emmons alleges that Marshal Carona and other superior officers have also warned him that he must accommodate “certain political realities” at the courthouse, such as serving coffee to judges and performing personal services for them.

“I believe in what I’m doing, I believe in it wholeheartedly,” said Emmons, who spoke on his own behalf. “I am loyal to the police service and to the entire criminal justice system, including the judiciary.”

Mark C. Reid, an employee relations representative for the Assn. of Deputy Marshals of Orange County, said the regulations are some of the most restrictive in the state.

Although he did not have statistics, he said the rules have been the subject of other grievances filed by deputies.

“Just because you put on a uniform doesn’t mean you throw away your constitutional rights,” Reid said. “Individuals still have rights, and those need to be protected.”