[Court] rules in favor of the whistleblower only one percent of the time: The policy suggests that public integrity is more dangerous than treason.

Daily Kos: State of the Nationby Deep Harm | Fri May 16, 2008

... But, hardly anything is written about another kangaroo court; one that hears cases of American citizens - federal government employees who report lawbreaking, negligence and abuses of power by government officials.

The outcomes of those cases, involving issues of national security, public health and environmental safety, affect everyone; for, often the cases are the only times officials face being held accountable. So, what does it say to you that the court that hears those cases rules in favor of the whistleblower only one percent of the time - one pitiful percent? [1]

No jury, no transparency, no justice

The court referenced above is the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the only court where federal government whistleblowers can go if they do not succeed at the Office of Special Counsel (2.5 percent success rate) or at the Merit Systems Protection Board (success rate less than 5 percent) [2]. And, because there is no provision at any step of the process for a jury trial and there is no requirement to publish details, evidence of official wrongdoing routinely disappears. Worsening the dilemma for honest feds, in many cases they are required by law or the code of ethics to report wrongdoing, as whistleblower attorney David Colapinto explained at a Congressional forum last week.

All whistleblowers are vulnerable to retaliation. But, national security whistleblowers are the most vulnerable because they have the fewest rights. Agencies typically revoke their security clearances, and there is no meaningful due process currently available to them. As Colapinto pointed out, federal whistleblowers, even if they have had security clearances for years, are denied access to classified evidence needed to win their cases. In contrast, the courts allow defendants accused of espionage to have access to classified documents. The policy suggests that public integrity is more dangerous than treason. ...