damages she sought. Concurring opinion Justice Powell filed a separate concurrence noting the private nature of McPherson's conversation and its constitutionally protected status. Dissenting opinion Justice Scalia dissented, joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices White and O'Connor. In their dissent, the two-pronged test outlined in Connick v. Myers was thought to be impermissibly expanded in scope by the majority's decision. In this test, one must prove that the speech in question; 1. Was of a matter of public concern, and, 2. Bears greater concern in being said than the employer's concern in suppressing it. The dissenting Justices felt that even though she claimed she "didn't mean anything by it," it did not actually address any kind of disapproval of the President's policies. Rather, they felt her comment was genuinely expressing the hope that, the next time an assassination was attempted, the President would be killed. The dissenters felt her statement included "violent words" rather than a genuine, albeit hyperbolic, attempt at criticism of the President's policies. Also, the dissenting Justices felt it was improper for the majority to claim that McPherson's speech was at the "heart" of First Amendment protection when it was only slightly removed from a threat on the President's life, which had already been ruled as unprotected speech. As Scalia's dissent states, "Once McPherson stopped explicitly criticizing the President's policies and expressed a desire that he be assassinated, she crossed the line." He further quoted Petitioner Rankin's counsel that no law enforcement agency is required by the First Amendment to permit one of its employees to 'ride with the cops and cheer for the robbers'. The dissenting Justices expressed their belief that the balancing act proposed by the majority was misguided, and that, instead, it should have balanced McPherson's right to say it against the right of the Constable's Office to prevent such statements in his agency. It was stated that Rankin, as Constable, had a very understandable interest in preventing his employees from even sounding as though they advocated violent crimes in the office, and, as such, the dissenting Justices believed he had even greater weight in the balance. See also List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 483 List of United States Supreme Court cases List of United States Supreme Court cases involving the First Amendment Lists of United States Supreme Court cases by volume List of United States Supreme Court cases by