Tuesday, May 30, 2006

SCOTUS rules: no whistle-blower free-speech right

Sheer insanity.
A closely divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that government whistle-blowers are not protected by free-speech rights when they face employer retaliation for trying to expose possible misconduct at work.

By a 5–4 vote, the high court ruled against a California prosecutor who said he was demoted, denied a promotion and transferred for trying to expose a lie by a county sheriff's deputy in a search-warrant affidavit.

Adopting the position of the Los Angeles prosecutor’s office and the U.S. Justice Department, the high court ruled that a public employee has no First Amendment right in speech expressed as part of performing job-required duties.
I’ll skip the commentary on this one.

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