MISC to Hold Reddit AMA for 25th WPA Anniversary
Next Friday, June 27, the Make It Safe Coalition (MISC) will participate in a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Whistleblower Protection Act. GAP Legal Director Tom Devine, widely recognized as one of the country’s top experts on whistleblower law, will be prepared to answer any questions that the public may have about existing whistleblower rights.
‘Silenced’ & ‘1971′ Show Today in DC
Silenced, the new documentary focusing on the federal government’s shocking treatment of whistleblowers, shows in the Washington, DC area this afternoon and on Saturday night as part of the AFI DOCS Film Festival. Also showing today and Saturday is1971, a documentary detailing eight citizens’ break-in to the Media, Pennsylvania FBI office where they obtained files proving the agency was spying on anti-Vietnam War organizers and other members of the public.
USA Today: Lift Assange Out of Legal Limbo
In this op-ed, Michael Ratner, attorney for both Julian Assange and WikiLeaks, argues that the U.S. should withdraw the threat of criminal prosecution against his client and grant amnesty to Edward Snowden. The author argues that the “harassment, targeting and prosecution of whistle-blowers, journalists and publishers have become a dangerous new normal – one we should refuse to accept, especially in a time when governments are becoming more powerful and less accountable.”
Business Week: GM Recalls – How General Motors Silenced a Whistleblower
This article details how a former General Motors (GM) employee sued the company under a Michigan whistleblower law after multiple safety concerns he raised fell on deaf ears. His concerns were directly related to the ongoing scandal involving the overdue recall of vehicles with flawed ignition switches. The whistleblower’s replacement stated he was too afraid to insist on safety concerns after seeing his predecessor “pushed out of the job for doing just that.” An extensive report released earlier this month points to GM’s culture of complacency, resulting in a decade-long delay to recall faulty vehicles linked to at least 13 deaths and 54 crashes.
KTAR News (AR): McCain, Flake – VA Whistleblowers Need Protection
On Monday, Arizona Sens. Jeff Flake (R) and John McCain (R) urged the Department of Veteran Affairs Inspector General to investigate VA whistleblower claims of retaliation. In a letter, the two wrote that the IG should investigate “how management contemporaneously handled whistleblower complaints within the VA.”
Dylan Blaylock is Communications Director for the Government Accountability Project, the nation’s leading whistleblower protection and advocacy organization.