Shut Up
When is speech not free? When it’s critical of your employer, especially if you’re working for the government. Now, anyway. The dispute under examination doesn’t sound like free speech, to be fair; it sounds like a contentious dispute between an employee and his supervisors that got him a black mark on his permanent record. The “legitimate staffing needs” of the L.A. D.A. probably address what used to be called “personality conflicts,” and Mr. Ceballos is probably lucky he got to keep his job at all. Nevertheless, concerns over the chilling effect this decision may have on whistleblowers and others, even outside government service, in speaking against bad decisions or practices seems warranted. While the specifics of Mr. Ceballos’ behavior in objecting to a search warrant’s legitimacy are not provided, that he did so should be commended. A truly democratic system of government requires its operations to be transparent, above-board at all times, and, to argue for the dissent, no employee working in the government, or elsewhere for that matter, surrenders his rights or duties as a citizen in protecting the public interest in this respect. Mr. Ceballos’ objections must be protected speech or we hand our [elected] leaders more power than they are entitled to, and we know about power. But then look at which Justices were in the majority.