DOCSLIB.ORG

Protecting the Rights of Whistleblowers

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Protecting the Rights of Whistleblowers Social Education 69(6), pg 313–317 ©2005 National Council for the Social Studies Protecting the Rights of Whistleblowers Lauren Robinson Coleen Rowley became one of the most famous whistle- blowers in the United States in recent times when she blew the whistle on intelligence blunders at the FBI. The special agent’s fiery 13-page letter to FBI Director Robert Mueller in 2002 detailed the FBI’s failure to investigate Zacarias Moussaoui, a French national of Moroccan descent known as the “20th hijacker,” in connection with the September 11 attacks. Rowley was named Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” in 2002 along with two other whistleblowers. Rowley’s team, based out of the FBI’s Minneapolis office, arrested Moussaoui just weeks before the 9/11 attacks. Moussaoui had attended terrorist training camps in the Middle East and spent $8,000 on flight training for a Boeing 747. Rowley and her team requested a warrant to search his com- puter, but her supervisors denied the request. Moussaoui later pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit the atrocities, although he originally denied ties to 9/11, saying he had plans for a separate attack of his own. In her memo to Mueller, Rowley criticized the FBI’s failure to act: Hopefully, with our nation’s security on the line, you and our nation’s other elected and appointed officials can rise above the petty politics that often plague other discus- sions and do the right thing. You do have some good ideas for change in the FBI but I think you have also not been completely honest about some of the true reasons for the FBI’s pre-September 11th failures. Until we come clean and deal with the root causes, the Department of Justice will continue to experience problems fighting terrorism and fighting crime in general.1 Rowley’s concerns were met with a great deal of high-pow- ered support, attracting media attention, and fueling congressio- Coleen Rowley, the FBI agent who went public about the bureau’s mishandling of the Zacarias Moussaoui case, is shown nal investigations and hearings. They even gained the attention during an interview with the Associated Press in Washington, of the Special Staff of the 9/11 Joint Intelligence Committee. D.C., Sept. 9, 2004. Rowley warned that counter-terrorism agents Rowley made use of this attention to raise awareness of the may be getting more information than they can sift through. (AP FBI’s systemic failings and to force the organization to correct Photo/Stephen J. Boitano) O CT O BER 2 0 0 5 313 inaction, unwieldy paperwork, tangled or to non-governmental organizations ers take to intimidate workers who bureaucracy, and what she saw as a “risk- (NGOs). Currently, Congress is debat- challenge the status quo include: job adverse culture.” Rowley’s whistleblow- ing whether or not to strengthen federal demotion, psychiatric evaluations, strip- ing contributed to a revamping of the whistleblower protections, particularly ping away security clearances (meaning intelligence community. She recently the Whistleblower Protection Act employees effectively lose their jobs), announced plans to run for Congress (WPA), which was originally passed in and transferring employees to new loca- and said the focus of her campaign will 1989 to better help these employees. tions. The whistleblower may be forced be on “ethical decisionmaking by gov- Since 9/11, the general public has to work in a hostile work environment ernment leaders.”2 had a heightened awareness of national and suffer physical threats or blacklist- Rowley chose to be public with her security issues. This, coupled with the ing, and other retaliatory acts. actions, but another famous whistle- public visibility of whistleblowers like Employees who go through the blower chose to be exceedingly anony- Coleen Rowley, has generated new dia- proper channels at work to report wrong- mous and was also very effective. This logue about whistleblowing and ethical doing are often faced with hostility and past summer it was revealed, to great dilemmas. Official whistleblower reports find they can only turn to someone out- public fanfare, that former FBI assistant in general are on the rise. According to side the agency to get problems fixed. director Mark Felt was the mysterious Public Employees for Environmental A survey taken in 2000 by the Merit “Deep Throat” informant. Felt’s work Responsibility, the number of official Systems Protection Board, which is an with Washington Post reporters Bob whistleblower reports has risen signifi- independent government agency cre- Woodward and Carl Bernstein helped cantly, from 380 in the year 2001 to ated to protect federal employees from spark investigations into the Watergate 535 in 2003. agency management abuses, found that break-in scandal that eventually forced 44 percent of the survey respondents President Richard Nixon to resign from Whistleblower Retaliation who had made formal disclosures of office. Many employers in the private and pub- wrongdoing experienced retaliation for These two cases were fairly unique: lic sector do not want to be confronted the disclosures. Only 4 percent of those most whistleblower cases do not receive with a whistleblower’s concerns. Coleen employees who did not make a formal media attention to the extent that Rowley observed in a 2004 Minnesota disclosure experienced retaliation. This Rowley’s and Deep Throat’s have. And Law and Politics article, “I’ve learned also suggests that many supervisors in not every whistleblower is allowed to the sad lesson that most organiza- federal agencies are unready to facili- make as much of an impact on the prob- tions are resistant to change and have tate an office atmosphere that is open lems they witness. The road to exposing a natural tendency to want to cover up to in-house dialogue about workers’ government errors or corruption is very problems and mistakes.” This organi- concerns. bumpy and very costly. zational mindset is troubling, primarily Outlining examples of the types of because it can endanger the organiza- negative reactions whistleblowers face, Introduction to Whistleblower Issues tion’s employees or the nation’s security. Elaine Kaplan, former head of the U.S. Thousands of federal workers, like The compulsion to cover up problems Office of Special Counsel, testified Rowley and Felt, play key roles in rather than to address them openly is in 2003 to the Senate Committee on achieving security for our nation. They understandable: nobody wants to admit Governmental Affairs: do so as translators and investigators they made mistakes or to have those This same scenario could play who handle sensitive intelligence, as mistakes scrutinized, especially when out in any number of contexts: officials who protect the safety and an agency’s budget or a manager’s career an inspector at the Nuclear security of our nuclear weapons labs is at stake. Addressing a whistleblower’s Regulatory Commission who suf- and power plants, as personnel who test concerns often means a supervisor must fers retaliation when he recom- the efficacy of airport baggage screening, admit to wrongdoing. Yet if agencies are mends that a nuclear power plant’s and in many other ways. truly to serve the public interest, they license be revoked for violating Although the vast majority of fed- would benefit from zooming in on a flaw safety regulations, an auditor who eral employees and officials work in the right away—without adding the hard- is denied promotions because he best interest of the public, instances of ship and drama of retaliating against found improprieties in a federal wrongdoing do occur, not only in ways whistleblowers. grant program, or an investigator that waste tax dollars, but also in ways When agencies retaliate against a in the Inspector General’s office that compromise national security and whistleblower, they are simply “shoot- who is geographically reassigned the public health. Many workers raise ing the messenger,” and this does more because he has reported mis- their concerns to unresponsive employ- harm than good. This is evident from the conduct by a high level agency ers and are then compelled to take many instances of whistleblower retali- official.3 those concerns to the press, Congress, ation. Some of the actions that employ- S O CIAL E DUCATI O N 314 This type of sad and dramatic out- his security clearance, effectively ending blower to meet a higher standard of come can be seen time and again in many the career of one of the best security proof than is required for prosecuting of the personal stories of whistleblow- analysts in DOE. In a November 2003 criminals. The 1999 case of Lachance v. ers. For example, FBI translator Sibel Vanity Fair article, Levernier said, “If White ruled that the WPA only protects Edmonds was fired in 2002 after report- I had to do this over again, I wouldn’t. employees who charge the government ing ineptitude and possible with misconduct and can back it espionage by a co-worker to her up with “irrefragable proof,” or supervisors. Congressional brief- proof that is impossible to refute.5 ings concerning Edmonds’s case This standard was not mandated were retroactively classified by by the original legislation or in the Department of Justice (DOJ), reports by Congress on the intent sealing her national security con- of the WPA. cerns from dialogue and correc- There are several other tion, despite a separate DOJ loopholes in the WPA. It does Inspector General report that not offer employees full pro- confirmed much of Edmonds’s tection from retaliation by their allegations. bosses. For example, employees The case of New York City are not protected by the WPA if police officer Frank Serpico, an employee reports wrongdo- made famous by a book and a ing to the boss or to someone in movie entitled Serpico, illus- the chain of command at work; trates that sometimes a whistle- if employees blow the whistle in blower faces life and death the course of their job duties—for situations for his actions.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Person of the Year" Covers for Time Magazine
    UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones 12-1-2012 Where in the World are the Women of Time? Women and the "Person of the Year" Covers for Time Magazine Krystle Lynne Anttonelli University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations Part of the Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons, Mass Communication Commons, and the Women's Studies Commons Repository Citation Anttonelli, Krystle Lynne, "Where in the World are the Women of Time? Women and the "Person of the Year" Covers for Time Magazine" (2012). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 1704. http://dx.doi.org/10.34917/4332685 This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Thesis has been accepted for inclusion in UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. WHERE ARE THE WOMEN OF TIME? WOMEN AND THE “PERSON OF THE YEAR” COVERS FOR TIME MAGAZINE by Krystle Anttonelli Bachelor
    [Show full text]
  • A Review of the Protected Disclosure Act 2012 (Vic)
    PARLIAMENT OF VICTORIA Independent Broad‑based Anti‑corruption Commission Committee Improving Victoria’s whistleblowing regime: a review of the Protected Disclosure Act 2012 (Vic) Parliament of Victoria Independent Broad‑based Anti‑corruption Commission Committee Ordered to be published VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT PRINTER June 2017 PP No 288, Session 2014‑17 ISBN 978 1 925458 74 9 (print version) 978 1 925458 75 6 (PDF version) Committee functions The IBAC Committee is constituted under section 12A of the Parliamentary Committees Act 2003. 1. The functions of the Committee are— a. to monitor and review the performance of the duties and functions of the IBAC; b. to report to both Houses of the Parliament on any matter connected with the performance of the duties and functions of the IBAC that require the attention of the Parliament; c. to examine any reports made by the IBAC; d. to consider any proposed appointment of a Commissioner and to exercise a power of veto in accordance with the Independent Broad‑based Anti‑corruption Commission Act 2011; e. to carry out any other function conferred on the IBAC Committee by or under this Act or the Independent Broad‑based Anti‑corruption Commission Act 2011; f. to monitor and review the performance of the duties and functions of the Victorian Inspectorate, other than those in respect of VAGO officers or Ombudsman officers; g. to report to both Houses of the Parliament on any matter connected with the performance of the duties and functions of the Victorian Inspectorate that require the attention of the Parliament, other than those in respect of VAGO officers or Ombudsman officers; h.
    [Show full text]
  • Kenya – Whistle-Blowers – Corruption – Opposition Parties – Political Activists – Ethnic Pokomo
    Refugee Review Tribunal AUSTRALIA RRT RESEARCH RESPONSE Research Response Number: KEN34144 Country: Kenya Date: 16 December 2008 Keywords: Kenya – Whistle-blowers – Corruption – Opposition parties – Political activists – Ethnic Pokomo This response was prepared by the Research & Information Services Section of the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the RRT within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. This research response may not, under any circumstance, be cited in a decision or any other document. Anyone wishing to use this information may only cite the primary source material contained herein. Questions 1. Please provide any information on the protection of “whistle-blowers”, who expose corruption in the Kenyan government. 2. Please provide any information on the treatment of supporters of the Kenyan opposition. 3. Please provide any information on the treatment of those of Pokomo ethnicity. RESPONSE 1. Please provide any information on the protection of “whistle-blowers”, who expose corruption in the Kenyan government. Sources quoted below report that government corruption remains a problem in Kenya. The Witness Protection Act was passed in 2006, however, delays with implementation and weaknesses in the Act limit its effectiveness. Whistle-blowers in Kenya are at risk of violence and discrimination. The information provided in response to this question has been organised into the following eight sections: • Government Corruption; • Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission; • Whistleblower Reporting System; • Witness Protection; • Effectiveness of Witness Protection; • Freedom of Information Bill; • Other Laws; • Examples of Whistle-Blowing.
    [Show full text]
  • Congressional Record United States Th of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 107 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION
    E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 107 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION Vol. 148 WASHINGTON, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2002 No. 109 House of Representatives The House was not in session today. Its next meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 4, 2002, at 2 p.m. Senate TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2002 The Senate met at 9:30 a.m. and was APPOINTMENT OF ACTING Following that vote, the Senate will called to order by the Honorable JACK PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE recess until 2:15, as we do each Tuesday REED, a Senator from the State of The PRESIDING OFFICER. The for party conferences. Debate on the Rhode Island. clerk will please read a communication motion will resume at 2:15. to the Senate from the President pro All Senators should be alerted that PRAYER in addition to the vote on the judicial tempore (Mr. BYRD). The Chaplain, Dr. Lloyd John The legislative clerk read the fol- nomination at 12:30 today, the Senate Ogilvie, offered the following prayer: lowing letter: will vote on the motion to proceed to Almighty God, Sovereign of this Na- H.R. 5005 upon the expiration or yield- tion, Lord of this Senate and source of U.S. SENATE, ing back of all time—somewhere strength for leaders, we turn to You for PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE, Washington, DC, September 3, 2002. around 6:15 this afternoon. guidance for the intensely busy weeks To the Senate: Today, we have a motion to proceed, ahead in this fall session.
    [Show full text]
  • Remarks Prior to a Meeting with Congressional Leaders and an Exchange with Reporters June 7, 2002
    June 7 / Administration of George W. Bush, 2002 Remarks Prior to a Meeting With Congressional Leaders and an Exchange With Reporters June 7, 2002 Department of Homeland Security suicide bombings, still the incursions by the The President. I want to welcome Mem- Israelis. Is there any hope for any progress bers of the Senate and the House, mem- in the next couple days with the President bers of both political parties, to the Cabinet of Egypt and the Prime Minister of Israel? Room this morning to discuss how best to The President. Yes, I mean, we’re going implement the strategy that I talked about to have good discussions, and that’s always last night, that other Members of Congress important. George Tenet has just come have been talking about for awhile, and back from the Middle East. Ambassador that is the development of the Department Burns is coming back from the Middle of Homeland Security. East. There’s been consultation with all the We’ve got a lot of work to do to get parties. And after my meetings with Presi- this Department implemented. There’s dent Mubarak and Prime Minister Sharon, going to be a lot of turf protection in the I’ll talk to our country about how I think Congress. But I’m convinced that by work- we should move forward. ing together, that we can do what’s right Progress is being made. The Arab world for America, and I believe we can get now understands they need to be involved something done. in pushing for peace and fighting against To this end, I’m going to direct Tom the terrorist actions that have—that make Ridge to testify before Congress about the it very difficult to achieve a peace.
    [Show full text]
  • The Legal Character of Private Codes of Conduct: More Than Just a Pseudo-Formal Gloss on Corporate Social Responsibility Veronica Besmer
    Hastings Business Law Journal Volume 2 Article 7 Number 1 Winter 2006 Winter 1-1-2006 The Legal Character of Private Codes of Conduct: More than Just a Pseudo-Formal Gloss on Corporate Social Responsibility Veronica Besmer Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/ hastings_business_law_journal Part of the Business Organizations Law Commons Recommended Citation Veronica Besmer, The Legal Character of Private Codes of Conduct: More than Just a Pseudo-Formal Gloss on Corporate Social Responsibility, 2 Hastings Bus. L.J. 279 (2006). Available at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/hastings_business_law_journal/vol2/iss1/7 This Note is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Hastings Business Law Journal by an authorized editor of UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE LEGAL CHARACTER OF PRIVATE CODES OF CONDUCT: MORE THAN JUST A PSEUDO-FORMAL GLOSS ON CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY Veronica Besmer* I. INTRODUCTION Perhaps no other event has shaken the business environments of the industrialized economies more than the recent corporate governance scandals. Shortly after the record-breaking bankruptcies of Enron and WorldCom in the U.S., the infamous tidal wave swept the Old Continent. In 2003, the Italian food giant Parmalat became "Europe's Enron" with an accounting and securities fraud that the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") called "one of the largest and most brazen corporate financial frauds in history."1 Neither shaky corporate governance nor bankruptcies are novel. What makes the recent round of scandals mind- boggling is their magnitude: the combined market capitalizations of Enron and WorldCom that were wiped out exceeded the individual gross domestic * J.D.
    [Show full text]
  • University of West Bohemia Faculty of Applied Sciences Department of Physics
    UNIVERSITY OF WEST BOHEMIA FACULTY OF APPLIED SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS Academical year: 2003/2004 Term/Semester: Summer Year: 5 The USA Home And Abroad Since 1945 KAJ/AHA 9-11 R E V I S I O N E D Author: Jan Janský (A99194) [email protected] Date: June 1, 2004 9-11 Revisioned By means of shrewd lies, unremittingly repeated, it is possible to make people believe that heaven is hell -- and hell heaven. The greater the lie, the more readily it will be believed. – Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf 2 9-11 Revisioned INTRODUCTION – BRIEF OFFICIAL STORY In politics nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way. – Franklin D. Roosevelt In the morning on September 11, 2001 two hijacked jet airliners crashed into the towers of the World Trade Center (WTC). The first one was the American Airlines flight 11 (AA11) which departed from Logan International Airport, Boston at 7:59am (local time) and hit the north face of the World Trade Center One (WTC1, north tower) at 8:46am at the estimated speed of 470 mph (750 kmph). The second one was the United Airlines flight 175 (UA175) which departed from Logan International Airport at 8:14am and hit the south face of the World Trade Center Two (WTC2, south tower) at 9:03am at the estimated speed of 590 mph (950 kmph). Both flights were scheduled to arrive to Los Angeles and both were of the same type – Boeing 767-200ER. [1] Two other hijacked jetliners were reported – flight AA77 to hit the Pentagon building and the flight UA93 to crash in Pensylvania.
    [Show full text]
  • Oversight Hearing on Counterterrorism Hearing
    S. HRG. 107–920 OVERSIGHT HEARING ON COUNTERTERRORISM HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION JUNE 6, 2002 Serial No. J–107–83 Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary ( U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 86–517 PDF WASHINGTON : 2003 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate 0ct 09 2002 15:07 Oct 06, 2003 Jkt 089324 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 S:\GPO\HEARINGS\86517.TXT SJUD4 PsN: CMORC COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont, Chairman EDWARD M. KENNEDY, Massachusetts ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR., Delaware STROM THURMOND, South Carolina HERBERT KOHL, Wisconsin CHARLES E. GRASSLEY, Iowa DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, Wisconsin JON KYL, Arizona CHARLES E. SCHUMER, New York MIKE DEWINE, Ohio RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois JEFF SESSIONS, Alabama MARIA CANTWELL, Washington SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas JOHN EDWARDS, North Carolina MITCH MCCONNELL, Kentucky BRUCE A. COHEN, Majority Chief Counsel and Staff Director SHARON PROST, Minority Chief Counsel MAKAN DELRAHIM, Minority Staff Director (II) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 15:07 Oct 06, 2003 Jkt 089324 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\GPO\HEARINGS\86517.TXT SJUD4 PsN: CMORC C O N T E N T S STATEMENTS OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS Biden, Hon. Joseph R., Jr., a U.S. Senator from the State of Delware ..............
    [Show full text]
  • Covid Crisis Special Report 10 “ Whistleblowing Is Not a Business Opportunity but a Service to Human Rights”
    Covid Crisis Special Report 10 “ Whistleblowing is not a business opportunity but a service to human rights” By Eileen Chubb© Introduction Please note: We must make it clear that we are not connected in any way to the APPG on whistleblowing, WBUK or protect (PCAW) and that we have never and would never be associated in any way with such entities. This report relates to the 253 Whistleblowers who have contacted us during the Covid crisis. We have taken the number of cases from our last report and any new cases will be included in our next report. I have clearly highlighted the concerns raised by staff and the risk of raising those concerns. The aim of this report is to highlight the future solution and the need for justice. We look at four typical cases from our helpline, we have carefully anonymised the chosen case studies from the above 253 cases and compare the following systems for both urgent action on the whistleblowing concerns as well as legal protection for the whistle-blower, System One. The current Law, PIDA and regulators, example, CQC System Two. The proposed Law, The Office for The Whistle blower System Three. The proposed Law, Edna’s Law (The Employment Detriment & Negligence Act) Please note that Edna’s law itself (The Employment Detriment & Negligence Act) is based on the following evidence, 8489 Whistleblowers 5254 Families of Victims The above 8489 Whistleblowers are from the following sectors, Social Care NHS Schools, Colleges & University’s Transport & Aviation Hospitality, Catering & Retail Police, Probation & Prisons Civil Service, Banking & Financial Services, Accountancy Tourism & Environmental services.
    [Show full text]
  • By Coleen Rowley
    A Wake Up All Call! By Coleen Rowley The need to arouse the broader public with an antiwar message is as urgent today as it was in 2003 when this photo was taken at the time the U.S. was about to launch war on Iraq. Photo: Tom Bottolene The more we can educate the better! We really need to reach outside our comfortable “choirs” of those who agree with us to the larger (ignorant, apathetic) public, either through demonstrations or through sharing news and photographs with those friends, relatives, and citizenry who are not paying attention to the issues of war and war crimes. The wars and war blowback are not over but worsen daily. As speakers said at the Washington D.C. event, the situation under the Obama Administration is far worse than it was under Bush. We are perched on the brink of watching a new war break out, this time on Iran. It will be a repeat of the destructive invasion of Iraq but many times worse not only in terms of the millions of people that will be killed in the Mid-east but also in terms of the blowback on the United States and Israel. And yet almost no one speaks out here in the U.S.! The mainstream media and, with very few exceptions, both political parties have turned to war mongering. Not only do most of the congresspersons of both parties but Minnesota senators Klobuchar and Franken, both, accordingly give speeches in support of draconian sanctions (seen as war provocation), stopping diplomacy which will ultimately lead to war on Iran.
    [Show full text]
  • Eyewitness to History in Devolution of Democracy and Constitutional Rights Following 9/11 Thomas Drake Walden University
    Walden University ScholarWorks Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies Collection 2017 Eyewitness to History in Devolution of Democracy and Constitutional Rights Following 9/11 Thomas Drake Walden University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies Collection at ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Walden University College of Social and Behavioral Sciences This is to certify that the doctoral dissertation by Thomas Drake has been found to be complete and satisfactory in all respects, and that any and all revisions required by the review committee have been made. Review Committee Dr. George Larkin, Committee Chairperson, Public Policy and Administration Faculty Dr. Ron Hirschbein, Committee Member, Public Policy and Administration Faculty Dr. Tanya Settles, University Reviewer, Public Policy and Administration Faculty Chief Academic Officer Eric Riedel, Ph.D. Walden University 2017 Abstract Eyewitness to History in Devolution of Democracy and Constitutional Rights Following 9/11 by Thomas A. Drake Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Public Policy and Administration Walden University May 2017 Abstract Many researchers and political experts have commented on the disenfranchisement of the citizenry caused by irresponsible use of power by the government that potentially violates the 4th Amendment rights of millions of people through secret mass surveillance programs. Disclosures of this abuse of power are presumably protected by the 1st Amendment, though when constitutional protections are not followed by the government, the result can be prosecution and imprisonment of whistleblowers.
    [Show full text]
  • Praise for the Corporate Whistleblower's Survival Guide
    Praise for The Corporate Whistleblower’s Survival Guide “Blowing the whistle is a life-altering experience. Taking the fi rst step is the hardest, knowing that you can never turn back. Harder yet is not taking the step and allowing the consequences of not blowing the whistle to continue, knowing you could have stopped them. Your life will be forever changed; friends and family will question your ac- tions if not your sanity, your peers will shun you, every relationship you treasure will be strained to the breaking point. This handbook is required reading for anyone considering blowing the whistle.” —Richard and Donna Parks, Three Mile Island cleanup whistleblower and wife “The Corporate Whistleblower’s Survival Guide will be an immense help! For while there are no one-size-fi ts-all ‘right answers,’ the au- thors have effectively translated their decades of actual experience, insights, and resources in this fi eld onto paper. A realistic framework will now exist to help people confronting such diffi cult situations.” —Coleen Rowley, FBI 9/11 whistleblower and a 2002 Time Person of the Year “Lays out exactly what potential corporate whistleblowers must know to help improve their chances of both surviving whistleblowing and stopping the misconduct they set out to expose. My only hope is that we can help spread the word so that all potential corporate whistle- blowers read this book before they take their fi rst steps down that lonely road.” —Danielle Brian, Executive Director, Project on Government Oversight “As commissioner, I relied on whistleblowers like Jeffrey Wigand to learn the inside story about the deceptive practices of the tobacco industry.
    [Show full text]