Bautista

Emir Bautista was terminated as a sworn peace officer by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (Department) for engaging in a personal relationship with a known prostitute and heroin addict in violation of the Department’s prohibited-association policy. On appeal Bautista challenges the trial court’s denial of his petition for writ of mandate seeking to reverse the decision of the Los Angeles County Civil Service Commission (Commission) approving his discharge and the court’s order granting summary judgment for the Department and Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca on Bautista’s federal civil rights claim ( 42 U.S.C. § 1983 ) (section 1983). Bautista contends the Department’s prohibited-association policy, as applied to him, violated his right to freedom of association under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, as well as his statutorily protected federal civil rights. We affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

1. The Sheriff’s Department’s Prohibited-association Policy

Bautista was hired as a deputy sheriff by the Department in October 1996 and, until his termination, had not been subject to any discipline. When he was hired,…