Rights cannot be given up as part of a contract. Where did you get that idea?
Sure they can. Military personnel give up all sorts of rights when they sign their contract of enlistment. Non-disclosure, non-compete clauses are common in contracts. The list goes on. As long as the contract is voluntary, there's nothing wrong with it.
“Rights cannot be given up as part of a contract.”
The last time you bought a piece of real estate or personal property, did the previous owner give up his rights to that property or can he still do with it as he pleases?
Of course a lot depends on how you define a rights, so: how do you define a right?
A lot also depends on how you define “give up a right”.
>>Rights cannot be given up as part of a contract. Where did you get that idea?<<
Living in the real world. You ever hear of non-disclosure clauses? Theoretically a violation of the 1st. All company email can be monitored — 5th. All company property is searchable (5th). Drug testing — 5th and 4th.
You must not work for a living to understand these simple ideas.
I guess what you don’t understand is that the Rights are between the Government and the individual, not any private party (such as a college or business) and the individual.
And as far as employees of the State, having been one, I guarantee you that there is a prohibition against supporting any individual politician nor cause by things like buttons, posters and what have you — again, you give up your 1st Amendment rights as part of your employment contract.
The real world: live it, love it.
They sure as hell can. See Taylor v Taintor.