Hrrmmm. Having read a little more deeply now, I think this may not be too ridiculous a decision... There is no such thing as First Amendment protection for government employees on their job or related to knowledge they've gained on the job. There never has been. Ask anyone who has been in the military. "Whistleblower" is a very specific case of protected speech. This guy wasn't a whistleblower. He didn't follow the proper channels and actively helped the opposition of the office where he was employed. Thoughts? http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/1833/
Damn you, rhad! I just read the thread title and because of that my sarcasm detector broke.... again!
This is a complex case and its not clear to me what the implications of it are. My understanding is that this doesn't mean whistle blowers aren't protected just that they aren't protected when it comes to speech particularly related to their job. So for instance if someone's who's job is client relations knows that his company has engaged in shady accounting practices he can still expose that but he can't do so in official communications to clients. That's my reading and I'm wondering what some of the CF posters in the legal profession think about it. MadMax? Sam Fisher?
That's what I'm beginning to think. The first amendment does not protect "b****ing at the office". However, it does seem to imply (albeit, perhaps unintentionally) that feeding complaints/whistleblowing through "proper channels" is being discouraged. EDIT: Sorry about your sarcasm detector, giddy.
here's some more good news for the bush admin: Iraq's new ambassador to the US said yesterday US forces cold-bloodedly shot and killed his cousin last year in Haditha. It is the same town where marines are alleged to have gone on a rampage, killing 24 civilians. Samir Shakir al-Sumaidaie’s accusations — aired just hours after President George Bush welcomed him at the White House — came as the US military faced growing pressure to complete its investigation into the Haditha deaths http://media.putfile.com/IRAQ-AMBASSADOR