Main Charge Against Chief Chambers Thrown Out as Protected Whistle Blowing
Washington, DC — The legal saga of former U.S. Park Police Chief Teresa Chambers took yet another turn, as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit today upheld her status as a whistleblower and threw out the main charge used to justify her removal in 2004. This is the second time this appellate court has ruled in her favor and her case is now remanded back to see if any of the lesser charges remaining justify disciplinary action against her.
Chambers, who had been the police chief in Durham, NC, was selected by the Bush administration following a nationwide search in 2002 as the first female leader of the oldest uniformed police force in federal service. In late 2003, Chief Chambers gave an interview to the Washington Post in which she confirmed dangerously low staffing levels. Three days after her interview was published, she was ordered to surrender her gun and badge, placed on administrative leave, and ordered not to speak any further with the media. After leaving her on administrative leave for 7 months, the Interior Department acted to terminate her, citing her interview as disclosing “law enforcement sensitive” information...
Thus far, the Obama administration had argued the same positions put forward by the Bush officials who went after Chief Chambers. Even though some prominent Obama officials had cited the Chambers case as the epitome of excess information suppression during the Bush years, thus far there has been no change in posture or policy either with respect to this case or the broader question of when and how security problems can be ventilated.
http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=1336
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
