Re: SC rules 1st doesn't cover lies [CNN]

[Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>]

Clarification on the Subject: line -- the court's ruling, at least as
described below, applies only to government employees. It is the
state-as-employer, not the state-as-sovereign, role the court is discussing.

In other words, we're still free to lie, cheat, and steal[1].

-Declan

[1] Unless it's a copyrighted work; if it is, you'll go to federal prison
and be fined a quarter-mil. Thanks, Bill Gates and the Software Publishers
Association.


At 14:40 -0600 1/21/98, Jim Choate wrote:
>Forwarded message:
>
>>
>>          SUPREME COURT: GOVERNMENT AGENCIES CAN PUNISH WORKERS WHO LIE
>>
>>      January 21, 1998
>>      Web posted at: 2:53 p.m. EST (1953 GMT)
>>
>>      WASHINGTON (AP) -- Government agencies can punish employees who lie
>>      while being investigated for employment-related misconduct, the
>>      Supreme Court ruled unanimously Wednesday.
>>
>>      The court overturned rulings in five separate cases that had barred
>>      federal agencies from stiffening the disciplinary action taken
>>      against wayward employees based on false statements they made when
>>      questioned about their misconduct.
>>
>>      Although the decision dealt with federal employees, its rationale
>>      appeared to affect state and local government employees as well.
>>      Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote for the court that nothing
>>      in the Constitution nor any federal law bars such punishment.
>>
>>      "A citizen may decline to answer the question, or answer it
>>      honestly, but he cannot with impunity knowingly and willfully answer
>>      with a falsehood," Rehnquist said.
>
>
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