YubaNet.com – September 4, 2006:
The Bush administration has declared itself immune from whistleblower protections for federal workers under the Clean Water Act, according to legal documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). As a result of an opinion issued by a unit within the Office of the Attorney General, federal workers will have little protection from official retaliation for reporting water pollution enforcement breakdowns, manipulations of science or cleanup failures.
Citing an “unpublished opinion of the [Attorney General’s] Office of Legal Counsel,” the Secretary of Labor’s Administrative Review Board has ruled federal employees may no longer pursue whistleblower claims under the Clean Water Act. The opinion invoked the ancient doctrine of sovereign immunity which is based on the old English legal maxim that “The King Can Do No Wrong.” It is an absolute defense to any legal action unless the “sovereign” consents to be sued.
The opinion and the ruling reverse nearly two decades of precedent. Approximately 170,000 federal employees working within environmental agencies are affected by the loss of whistleblower rights.
I think it’s time for us to rebel against our government and creat a new government based on the ideals this government was suppose to be working toward… freedom, equality… We were slowy getting closer to these ideals and then the wanna be king got um… “elected” and then was re”elected” by the electrol college. As I don’t want to wait till Bush is out of office, and I don’t think there are enough people runing, who will actucally try and do things for the good, to make enough of a change to get us back onto a track that aims once more for those goals of equality and freedom.
Anyone know whether we Brits suffer under the same ‘Sovereign Immunity’? I thought it had gone with Charles I in about 1650.
‘Bout time you guys caught up. (Or set the pace if I think wrong)
There is never a sniper when you need one.
Bush really wants to see Republicans re-elected. He is doing everything he can to make the social environment so ugly that instead of the 15 to 20 seats needed to retake the House of Representatives, look more to 50 seats gained.
This is dangerous. the people responsible for monitoring the quality of our water, food, and air are being discouraged from reporting malfeasance? What kind of insane is this?
Can anyone defend this action?
Bush needs to be impeached and frog-marched out of the White House in manacles.
Did any of you actually go read the letter that was written, and not the article that this just links to?
It says that the federal goverment CAN be sued directly under the SWDA, the CAA, and if they want to sue under the CWA (Clean Water act), they have to go through the Labor Department.
Geesh, people. Read!
The opinion invoked the ancient doctrine of sovereign immunity which is based on the old English legal maxim that “The King Can Do No Wrong.
How long have you been waiting to use that statement.
6,
Yes, you can sue, you always could sue. But if you do you’ll get fired for telling on the government. Once upon a time we protected the messenger.
There is also the question of whether or not it is in the course of the person’s duties or not. If it is their job to report such things, then they are not a whistleblower, and are not protected under such laws. I have a friend who was an account auditor on a Marine base who was essentially forced out of her job because she brought to light some things that the people above her weren’t too happy to have pointed out. She sued and lost, because it was her job as an auditor.
>>Did any of you actually go read the letter that was written, and not
>>the article that this just links to?
Sure did. And I now remember (as if I had ever forgotten) why Shakespear wanted to kill all the lawyers. What a bloviating gasbag.
I find interesting, in one of the few coherent sentences in the letter, the statement that “it is axiomatic that the government may not be sued without its consent”. Assuming that this means what it says, and is not legalspeak for something entirely different, too bad the rest of us can’t avail ourselves of that axiomatic truth.
All Hail King George.
The King Can, and Never Will, Do No Wrong!
The King is *ALWAYS* right! I’m suprised at you, that this is as obvious as the nose on your face!
Hey, at least he’s not Vlad the Impaler!
And you wonder WHY europe drinks Wine and beer more then water…
They poluted it BAD, and it has taken over 40 years to make it better, still not drinkable.
When they lower the drinking age in the USA to age 2, THEN I will consider this a good thing.
But, when a nation cant drink the water….ITS getting BAD.
Let them drink the potomac water…NO bottled water for DC…
Anyone ever see the movie about contaminated wells…and the problems it was causing, and FINALLY someone got a Lawyer to HELP, after they did all the work and discovered, WHO, WHAT WHEN, DID it??
DO you RELALy think the EPA listens??
All the protection services have been cut to the bone, and ALL there teeth pulled, to DO ANYTHING… they dont have the man power to even check all the location in the US, this is as bad as protecting the mexican border, and the incoming Ports…
In the last 30+ years, they have been Stomped on, depleted, and scourged of there powers, and the needed manpower to DO THERE JOBS.
We have a few neo-conservatives that read this board. Can any of you intellegently defend the government’s position?
I’m moving to New Zealand.
14. That’s why they did it. To get you to move.
#14, They prefer to think of themselves at “enlightened” rather then neo-cons.
I am interested in what a Federal Judge would say. Is an opinion written by the agency valid in overturning whistle blower protection laws?
You knee-jerk Bush bashers act like this is the first time this principle has ever been applied in the US. Do some damn research.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_immunity
It’s good to be the King.
Get over it.
#17,Gig, As you suggested I have done some research. First, Wikipedia is NOT, repeat NOT a valid reference source. While it is fine for a quick read, the whole process has left it unreliable. So I went to the EPA. Here, the Ombudsman deals with employee problems, including whistle blower protections. I suggest you check it out.
The Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA) provides protection rights for Federal employees against retaliation for whistleblowing activities. …
http://www.epa.gov/oig/ombudsman-hotline/protection.htm
Now, not only is there statutory protection for EPA officials, but since the Secretary of Labor’s opinion is under appeal. And since sovereign immunity is common law doctrine, statutory law should prevail. As the Hamden case has already shown, and Padilla has hinted at, the Supreme Court is not overjoyed at the Bush doing end runs around the legal system and unilaterally deciding what laws will apply.
So when you talk about Bush bashing, maybe you should look at who is inviting the bashing. We are talking about the water we drink, the air we breathe, and the soil our children play in. If you want to see the environmental laws eroded even more, remember that come November. Remember that when those who are dismantling our protections lose badly.
19, or Mr. H. Fusion,
You communicate eloquently and intelligently. Unfortunately, this means that you speak a different language then our current administration and/or those of like mind.
I am astounded at how – and especially with this latest in a series of heavy-fisted, let them eat cake, monarchy-like actions – this “King” has not been “de-throned.”
Yes, it is about the water we drink and the air we breathe, but until more people have been affected with serious health problems (as I have) then sadly this “only as it affects me” society will keep drinking and breathing the tyranny.