US Supreme Court rules against government employees who report misconduct

The reactionary ruling reversed a decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. It will have a chilling effect on would-be “whistleblowers” who work for public agencies, encouraging government secrecy and lack of accountability.

The five-to-four vote in support of the decision by Justice Anthony Kennedy saw the four-man right-wing bloc, consisting of Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and two recently installed Bush nominees, Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito, line up against the more moderate wing, composed of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, David Souter, Stephen Breyer and John Paul Stevens.

It was the first significant case to reflect the further rightward shift resulting from the elevation of Roberts and Alito to the high court, particularly Alito’s succession to the post vacated by retired justice Sandra Day O’Connor. The latter was known as a “swing vote” and in a number of important cases lined up with the more liberal minority.

In 2000, Mr. Ceballos, a Los Angeles County prosecutor, wrote a memo to his superiors stating that sheriff’s deputies had made false statements in an affidavit that supported a search warrant and subsequent criminal prosecution. After talking to the police, the prosecutor’s supervisors in the district attorney’s office continued the prosecution. Ceballos subsequently sued his superiors, claiming his constitutional rights were violated when he was transferred and denied a promotion in retaliation for his report.

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http://wsws.org/articles/2006/jun2006/supr-j05.shtml