US curbs whistle-blowers' rights

Rights groups say the ruling will deter employees from speaking out

The US Supreme court has limited the rights of government whistle-blowers by ruling that they will not be protected under the First Amendment.

The ruling, which was passed by a 5-4 vote, means employees are not protected by free speech laws when speaking out during the course of their duties.

The decision will affect all of the nation's 20 million public employees.

But it was criticised by civil rights groups, who said it would discourage employees from exposing misconduct.

In practice, it will strengthen the government's ability to discipline public employees who make allegations of official misconduct.

Widespread impact

The decision was seen as a victory for the Bush administration, which has argued that the move will protect the government from cases filed by disgruntled workers posing as legitimate whistle-blowers.

But critics predicted the impact would be widespread.

"In an age of excessive government secrecy, the Supreme Court has made it easier to engage in a government cover-up by discouraging internal whistle-blowing," Steven Shapiro, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, told Reuters.

The justices' decision came at the end of a case involving a California prosecutor who claimed he was demoted, denied a promotion and transferred for alerting his superiors to an alleged error in a criminal procedure.

The Supreme Court decision overturned an appeal court ruling which said that the prosecutor was protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution.