Anniston Star: Holding Up Progress - Senate’s Shameful Little Secret
This masthead editorial uses the case of GAP client George Sarris – a U.S. Air Force whistleblower who was retaliated against for raising concerns about hazardous mechanical procedures – to demonstrate the ineffectiveness of current federal whistleblower laws.
The editorial also describes GAP and On The Media’s campaign to identify the senator who put a secret hold on the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (WPEA), and focuses on Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions – one of the three remaining senators refusing to provide a statement about whether they placed the hold.
If you have not already done so, please sign our petition urging Senators Jon Kyl (AZ), Jim Risch (ID), and Jeff Sessions (AL) to confirm or deny placing the hold. Furthermore, if you are a resident of Arizona, Idaho, or Alabama, please contact your senator and ask why he believes that the public does not have a right to know his views on secret holds and whistleblower protections.
Key Quote: This case illustrates the ineffectiveness of U.S. law covering government whistleblowers. According to the Government Accountability Project, over the last 17 years, the federal courts have sided with the government 210 times while siding with whistleblowers only three times. While not every would-be whistleblower has a legitimate case, the current 210-3 ratio defies the odds.
Buffalo News: OUTLOOK GLOOMY
This article looks at how the actions of WikiLeaks have prompted a “long overdue” dialogue on government secrecy, but have also derailed legislative efforts to further whistleblower protection. Both the Free Flow of Information Act, a bill that would have protected journalists from disclosing their sources, and the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act, a bill that would have strengthened protections for federal employees, died at the end of the last Congress.
Key Quote: That’s true, too, for the Whistle-blower Protection Enhancement Act, which would have expanded the legal protections offered to government employees who complain about serious misconduct. The Senate passed that measure unanimously late last year, but then what the Government Accountability Project calls “a red herring national security concern about WikiLeaks” delayed passage in the House.
Wall Street Journal: Firms Revisit Whistleblowing
A case involving a botched “espionage investigation” at French carmaker Renault SA is causing companies to scrutinize and revisit their processes for handling anonymous tips from whistleblowers.
Renault is currently preparing to exonerate two managers and an executive who were dismissed on the basis of anonymous tips. Renault now says that a more thorough investigation has revealed no evidence against the three employees.
TIME: WikiLeakers and Whistleblowers - Obama's Hard Line
This article looks at the Obama administration’s campaign against whistleblowers, detailing the administration’s five cases of criminal prosecution against alleged government leakers.
Lindsay Bigda is Communications Fellow for the Government Accountability Project, the nation's leading whistleblower advocacy organization.
