The Supreme Court has made clear that public employees do not forfeit their First Amendment rights in exchange for a paycheck. But that has not stopped government agencies at all levels, from Cabinet-level departments to the smallest county school districts, from threatening employees with discipline if they speak publicly about work-related matters. What does the law say about the right to blow the whistle, how are these “gag rules” inhibiting the free flow of information, and are there promising avenues for legal challenge?
Resources
- Protecting Sources and Whistleblowers: The First Amendment and Public Employees’ Right to Speak to the Media
Extended Version
Oct. 7, 2019, by Frank LoMonte - SPJ calls for action by journalists against gag rules after key legal win | Society of Profesional Journalists
- The PRESS Act: What it is, and why it’s important to get it passed | Society of Profesional Journalists
- Gagged America | Society of Profesional Journalists
- About the US Office of Special Counsel’s mission, federal employee protections, and recent work:
- United States v. National Treasury Employees Union, 513 US 454 - Supreme Court 1995
- MFIA Clinic Lawsuit Succeeds in Lifting Gag Rules at Pittsburgh Jail | Yale Law School
- Lawsuit Edgar v. Haines A lawsuit challenging the government's system of "prepublication review" | Knight First Amendment Institute
