Some whistle-blowers lose free-speech protections.

• Position: National

The Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution does not protect public employees against retaliation by their supervisors for anything they say in the course of performing their assigned duties, according to the New York Times.

Although the Supreme Court focused on disputes remaining in the workplace in its 5-to-4 ruling, the decision brought to light many concerns about the retaliation faced by whistle-blowers who go public.

The likely impact of the ruling was is unclear, according to the...