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Exposing government corruption is not longer protected by law.
(The following summary was taken from the Poe News page: )
The Supreme Court scaled back protections for government workers who blow the whistle on official misconduct Tuesday, a 5-4 decision in which new Justice Samuel Alito cast the deciding vote.
In a victory for the Bush administration, justices said the 20 million public employees do not have free-speech protections for what they say as part of their jobs.
Critics predicted the impact would be sweeping, from silencing police officers who fear retribution for reporting department corruption, to subduing federal employees who want to reveal problems with government hurricane preparedness or terrorist-related security.
Is it just me, or does the combination of this and the legal threats against journalists sound extremely fucking ominous? The official statement says that it's to keep policy efficient and prevent frivolous lawsuits, but it's impossible to ignore the glaring other side. Goverment employees are no longer protected from demotion and termination if they bring any instances of corruption to light. The Bush administration seems hell bent on preventing another Watergate. |
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