Chipping away our rights seems to be entertainment for the government, and now the Supreme Court has jumped in, too.
Here is the SCOTUS ruling {pdf format}
The crux of the decision:
When public employees make statements pursuant to their official duties, [they] are not speaking as citizens for First Amendment purposes, and the Constitution does not insulate their communications from employer discipline," writes Justice Anthony Kennedy for the majority.
The majority justices drew a distinction between work-related speech and the speech of a concerned citizen.
"When an employee speaks as a citizen addressing a matter of public concern, the First Amendment requires a delicate balancing of the competing interests surrounding the speech and its consequences," Justice Kennedy writes. "When, however, the employee is simply performing his or her job duties, there is no warrant for a similar degree of scrutiny.":
Reactions:
AP
http://www.sfgate.com/...
Reuters
http://today.reuters.com/...
Intimidation is now a protected right of the Federal Government, and it appears any government agency can now use this ruling - so from the local school board or tax assessor right up to the FBI, employees have no protection when they speak up about corruption.
Steven Shapiro of the American Civil Liberties Union said, "In an age of excessive government secrecy, the Supreme Court has made it easier to engage in a government cover-up by discouraging internal whistle-blowing."
Other ACLU officials predicted the ruling will deter government employees from speaking out about wrongdoing for fear of losing their jobs.
"Open speech by a private citizen on a matter of public importance," Justice David Souter wrote in his dissent, "lies at the heart of expression subject to protection by the First Amendment."
Makes me proud to be from NH .. and Souter was appointed by GHWB
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.
Some of what concerns me most is the precedent this sets up.
God knows, I not a lawyer and even less a Constitutional scholar, but it appears that the concept of rights of the individual that are not 'clearly established' are now fair game for slicing and dicing by this newly activist Supreme Court.
This partially a First Amendment Issue, but it's also a Fourteenth Amendment issue, which clearly spells out {my italics}
Section. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
to back this up .. from the dissent
As JUSTICE SOUTER explains, public employees are still citizens while they are in the office. The notion that there is a categorical difference between speaking as a citizen and speaking in the course of one’s employment is quite wrong.
Bottom line .. work for the government? Better watch your back.
Even worse, wait for Bush to issue an Executive Order or 'Signing Statement' which equates corporations operating under Government Contract as agents of the Government.
Mark my words, here it comes.
In larger terms, the ruling today in the SCOTUS, overturning an opinion in a US Appeals court, sets a new bar, a bar that may be seen by future historians as a crucial tipping point in the corporatization of government.
We should be gravely concerned, but yet this is 'buried on page A-19'.
For those keeping score, this case was ejudicated when O'Connor was on the court.
Guess who cast the tie-breaking vote today? {Scalito}
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Thanks to all who recommended and posted here, finally made the rec list for the first time!
A real pleasure to read all of your comments; I am humbled by the response.