Pappas v. Giuliani, 290 F.3d 143 (2002), was a case in which the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that the First Amendment to the United States Constitution was not violated when a police officer was fired for mailing out racially offensive political materials from his home.

The Appeals court held that the Police Department's action had not infringed on the plaintiff's Pappas's rights under the First Amendment.

The views Pappas expressed, the finding held, might undermine the effectiveness of the department.

Sonia Sotomayor dissented from the majority's decision to award summary judgment to the police department.

She expressed sympathy for the NYPD's "concerns about race relations in the community," which she described as "especially poignant," but at the same time emphasized that the NYPD had substantially contributed to the problem by disclosing the results of its investigation into the racist mailings to the public.