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Federal Court Challenges Garcetti Policies in Baltimore Police Whistleblower Case

in 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Garcetti v. Ceballos, in which they held that government employees are not protected by the First Amendment when they report concerns at work. This awful decision served as an impetus for advocates of employee rights, civil rights, and free speech issues, to band together and demand a comprehensive whistleblower law to protect government employees.  While advocates continue to battle for whistleblower rights in Congress, federal courts have begun to recognized the ill-conceived policies of the Garcetti decision. Recently, we told you about a 10th Circuit federal appeals court decision that allowed a building inspector whistleblower to have his day in court. Now, the 4th Circuit has produced a great decision in favor of a Baltimore policeman who reported misconduct in the police shooting of an unarmed elderly man.


As pointed out by this article, posted on The First Amendment Center website, Judge Wilkinson's concurring opinion in that case, Andrews v. Clark, is a powerful rebuke of the policies underlying the Garcetti decision. In his concurrence, Judge Wilkinson says that throwing out the whistleblower's case "would have profound adverse effects on accountability in government"  and “informed scrutiny of the workings of government...is impossible without some assistance from inside sources such as Michael Andrew.” This decision, along with Judge Wilkinson's concurrence, is great evidence that our federal judges get it.
 

I highly recommend reading the article, as well as the Andrews v. Clark decision.


 

Federal Law Enforcement Backs Whistleblower Protection

I am happy to say that we have received another significant endorsement for federal employee whistleblower protections. The Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association has issued a statement in support of the Whistleblower provisions passed by the House of Representatives in the Economic Stimulus package last week, and is urging the Senate to pass the bill with the whistleblower provisions intact. Further, FLEOA is calling on President Obama to enact an executive order which would restore the careers of Law Enforcement Officers (including counterterrorism agents) who have had their careers destroyed after blowing the whistle.


Jon Adler, the National President of FLEOA had this to say about the retroactive protections:


"After abiding by their oath to uphold the laws of the Constitution, this small select group of federal law enforcement and counter-terrorism agents suffered unwarranted retaliation due to the ineffective and outdated federal Whistleblower Protection Act currently in effect."

 

 

Police Whistleblowing Leads to Legislative Action in Connecticut


Recently I wrote a blog post on the need for whistleblower protection in the South Carolina State Police and how their upper eschelon was retaliating against troopers who blew the whistle on a fellow officer who intentionally hit a suspect with his car.


Although there has been no news of reform out of South Carolina, at least one state is getting the message. Connecticut's state senate has passed expanded whistleblower protection in the wake of its own state police corruption and retaliation scandal.


Since the U.S. Congress has yet to pass meaningful whistleblower reforms for Government employees, it is important that states act to sure up protections for honest employees who report waste, fraud and abuse.


South Carolina State Troopers Need Whistleblower Protection

A troubling whistleblower story has been developing in South Carolina. The federal authorities and  the South Carolina state senate is investigating systematic retaliation by the SC State Police against their own officers who report illegal activity within the agency. Read about it here>>


Most recently, whistleblowers' disclosures there have led to the release of these shocking videos, showing officers using their vehicles as a weapon to ram fleeing suspects.


As one state senator put it, the SC State police has been run by "good ol' boy politics."


Hopefully the state and federal investigations in South Carolina will root out the wrongdoers and result in the proper reforms, but this instance really shows the need for better state and federal laws to protect whistleblowers. After the devastating 2006 Garcetti v. Ceballos Supreme Court decision, government whistleblowers no longer have the First Amendment to rely on as a shield against retaliation, which leaves them with basically no protection whatsoever.