Department of Homeland Security v. MacLean (2014)
- Docket
- 13-894
- Decided
- 2014-01-01
Summary
Question: Does the Whistleblower Protection Act bar an agency from taking enforcement action against an employee who intentionally discloses sensitive security information? Conclusion: Yes. Chief Justice John Roberts, Jr. delivered the opinion for the 7-2 majority. The Court held that the language that Congress used in the exception within the Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA) that allows for prosecution of disclosures "specifically prohibited by law" is significant. Because Congress used the phrase, "law, rule, or regulation" in other places in the WPA, the fact that the exception only addressed disclosures "specifically prohibited by law" indicated that Congress did not intend for the exception to apply to disclosures prohibited by regulations such as the TSA regulation in question. The Court rejected the government's argument that it should prevail because disclosures like MacLean's were specifically prohibited and "gravely endanger[ed] public safety." The Court noted that these concerns were legitimate but held that they must be addressed by Congress or the President. Justice Sonia M. Sotomayor authored a dissenting opinion in which she argued that the Homeland Security Act explicitly prohibited the type of disclosure at issue. Therefore, Congress intended to prohibit these types of disclosures because it passed the Homeland Security Act, which required the TSA to enact regulations to prevent such disclosures. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy joined in this dissent.