A ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court bars public employees from seeking First Amendment protection when they blow the whistle on rules violations while on the job, according to the Washington Post. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in his decision that state and federal labor laws still protect publicly employed whistleblowers, but it would interfere with government and the courts to let them claim that being reprimanded for speaking out is a violation of their freedom of speech. Dissenters on the court say the labor laws are too weak, that the ruling will discourage public employees from reporting violations and that lower courts should be able to assess the claims case by case. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/30/AR2006053000463.html