Courts: Cops who allege corruption can be fired

[LeighAnn]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

Police who tell investigators about alleged corruption in their departments have no constitutional protection for their statements and can be fired, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday in a Contra Costa County case.

The 2-1 ruling by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco relied on a 2006 U.S. Supreme Court decision that narrowed legal protections for government whistle-blowers. The high court said public employees who make job-related complaints to their superiors aren't protected by the First Amendment guarantee of free speech.

In Tuesday's ruling, the appeals court said police have a duty to report crime by anyone, including their employers - and therefore, under the Supreme Court ruling, have no protection against retaliation when they testify about department corruption.

The court noted, however, that California's whistle-blower laws protect employees from being punished for reporting wrongdoing to outside authorities. The plaintiffs in Tuesday's case, two former police officers from Pittsburg, claimed violations of their constitutional rights and did not invoke the state law.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/07/21/BA3818SK34.DTL

[pinto]

1. Sounds as though the lawyers for the plaintiffs dropped the ball here.

California's whistle-blower laws are a sound protection. :shrug:

[Dogmudgeon]

2. The NINTH Circuit rendered that ruling?

I'm gobsmacked! The Ninth is the one and ONLY liberal US Circuit court!

--d!

[damntexdem]

9. But this was a 2-1 ruling.

It's all in which three justices a case draws.

[winyanstaz]

3. Our justice system is broke

and too many morons sit on the benches making the few good ones we have left look just as bad as they are.

[sasquatch]

14. +1

[mbperrin]

4. Boy, this will make cops eager to root out wrongdoers in their departments!

No, wait...

Locally, a couple of nurses here have had felony charges filed against them for blowing the whistle on a local hospital.
http://www.oaoa.com/news/indicted-33891-kermit-nurses.html

KERMIT, Texas (AP) — Two West Texas nurses who sent an anonymous complaint about a physician to the state medical board now face felony charges related to their filing.

The American Nurses Association and its Texas affiliate issued a news release Thursday that strongly criticized the Winkler County indictments against longtime nurses Anne Mitchell and Vicki Galle.

The groups said they are concerned the prosecutions could have a "chilling effect" on other nurses. more at link....

[Journeyman]

5. So, officers are duty-bound to report all crimes, but can be legally hounded if they do so. . .

and still, there are those who can wonder why I have absolutely no respect whatsoever for the American judicial system . . .

[dgibby]

6. Another stirring chapter of the Justice Dept's version of Alice in Lawyer Land.

And now kiddies, a word from our sponsor, Legal Limbo Puffs.

[snake in the grass]

7. Seems reasonable to me.

I'm sure this ruling will be an encouragement to someone considering blowing the whistle on department corruption. I mean, what influence does the potential loss of livelihood have on someone's decision to do the right thing?

[damntexdem]

8. And if what they say is the truth, then they're REALLY in trouble.

But whistle-blowers are totally safe just so long as they keep their lips away from those whistles.

[gratuitous]

10. So a cop decides to blow the whistle

He can't go to his superiors, because there's no guarantee that he'll be protected from reprisals. Okay, that's pretty much the way things have always been, and now the Ninth Circuit has given legal imprimatur to corrupt police departments to hit back at anyone who doesn't observe the code of the thin blue line. The Ninth Circuit magnanimously concedes that California's state law would protect a cop who reports wrongdoing to outside authorities. And the first question an outside authority is going to have? "Did you report this to your supervisor? We don't want to meddle in the internal affairs of the police department." And what outside authority, dependent as it no doubt will be on the good will of the police, is going to jump right into the middle of things on the say-so of one individual who will almost certainly be characterized as "disgruntled"?

Also, the Ninth Circuit encompasses quite a bit of geography outside the State of California. What will be the lot for whistle-blowers who don't have even the dubious protections of California's state law?

Sounds like a petition for reconsideration by the full court may be in order.

[pleah]

11. They continue to punish people for trying to do the right thing.

Why am I not surprised.

[unblock]

12. how surreal. it's your duty to report corruption, therefore you CAN be fired for reporting it.

had it not been your duty to report it, reporting it would have been "free speech" and therefore protected and you could NOT be fired for it.

[McCamy Taylor]

13. So, if police turn in corrupt cops to the FBI they get to keep their jobs----FBI being OUTSIDE.

Maybe the DOJ is looking for more opportunity to investigate local law enforcement. This loophole is big enough to drive an 18 wheeler through, and I expect we will see many more government whistleblowers turning their bosses over to the feds in order to save their jobs. Could be a problem if the DOJ is run like the Bush/Cheney one---i.e. investigations are started for political reasons.

[terri terri]

19. "Mistakes at the Department of Justice"

What I don't understand is how the justice depart has made so many mistakes on it's site. When I was on the Justice Departments website looking for " police racketeering" I was sent to a new window that said " I'm sorry but the link you are looking for is no longer available"!!!! What....... That was the beginning of 2009, just after Bush!

First of all, I am a white looking native American woman. My business was set up for its business insurance policy by my local police department and I have the paperwork to prove it. These guys got away with 1.2 million. The FBI told me my business was set up as wall as an insider police. When I took the recommended chain of command as recommended by the ....JUSTICE DEPARTMENT.... I was met with hostility, I was humiliated and warned to keep my mouth shut or I would be killed by ....Gang Members. I made sure that over 1000 people have the falsified police documents. Thru my investigations I found that there should be something called " citizen review board" NEAR...NEAR every police department. The CITIZEN REVIEW BOARD was voted down by the local police and local governments because nobody knew about it. When I contacted Gloria Alread, her office told me this was too " high profile to handle".

I have been followed and harassed and have much more information than I will mention here, except for the fact that one of the signers were Harvey Bailey from the Culver City police department ,,,on the paperwork. Please look up Harvey Bailey on UTube. I since started studying law only to find out that bullies use it to it's fullest, If the average working person can't pronounce a legal word correctly.

I contacted the African American community, but they were terrified to do anything. I did ,however, find that everyone can make a difference by demanding 2 things. A citizen review board, where an outside group of " working citizens" have investigative powers. And , voting a law to stop, once and for all, the police from policing themselves. If anyone out there has been set up for monetary gain , or just plain set up, please contact me.

[Oldtimeralso]

15. Can They Appeal to the Whole Appellate Court? n/t

[ThomCat]

16. This is a ruling guaranteed to reinforce corruption.

Now the few people who might have stood up to corruption will lose the one protection they had, and they are probably going to keep their mouths shut now in order to avoid persecution. What good does this do? :(

Corruption is already well protected and running rampant. We need to protect the people who oppose it and shed light on it.

[ConcernedCanuk]

17. Gee - the USA doesn't allow tattling on it's evil administrators . . this is NEWS??

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:freak:

[caseymoz]

18. They have a duty to sacrifice their careers . ..

. . . because they are required by law to report wrongdoing. I have to read that ruling.

What about the citizens' rights to an honest, uncorrupted government? Where's the court's obligations to protect that?