The United States Supreme Court ruled this week on a case, Garcetti et al v. Ceballos, involving a public official's right to "blow the whistle" on what the official considered to be wrongful or illegal conduct by his employer, a District Attorney's Office in which he worked as a professional. The case revolved on an inaccurate affidavit used to get a search warrant, the evidence obtained as a result of which was, of course, "legally contaminated" and so, the case should not have been pressed using that evidence, asserted Deputy District Attorney Ceballos in a memorandum to his superordinates in the office. His employer thought otherwise and, seeing Ceballos's communication as a form of mutiny, retaliated against him. The Supreme Court overturned the Circuit Court opinion and ruled that the public employee does not have "whistleblower protection rights" under the First Amendment.
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