Whistleblowers Talking with Independent Advocacy Organizations
Contents
| General Advocacy Organizations |
 American Civil Liberties Union National
Taskforce on Civil Liberties in the Workplacehttp://www.aclu.org/issues/worker/hmwr.html |
| Good Government Groups http://www.fas.org/pub/gen/ggg/ |
| Judicial Watch http://www.judicialwatch.org |
| Public Citizen http://www.citizen.org/ |
| No Fear Coalition http://groups.msn.com/NoFearCoalition/ |
| Specialized Advocacy Organizations |
| Accuracy in Media http://www.aim.org/ |
| American Association for the Advancement
of Science http://www.aaas.org/spp/scifree/ |
| Governmental Accountability Project http://www.whistleblower.org/ |
| Federation of American Scientists http://www.fas.org |
| Center for Defense Information http://www.cdi.org/ |
| Project on Government Oversight (formerly, Project on Military Procurement) http://www.pogo.org/ |
| Transparency International http://www.transparency.org/ |
| Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility http://www.peer.org/ |
| The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer
Rights http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/ |
| Private Attorneys and Investigators (mainly for non-federal employees) |
| False Claims Act Resource Center (Miller, Alfano & Raspanti, P.C.) http://www.falseclaimsact.com/ |
| National Whistleblowers Center http://www.whistleblowers.org (Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto, P.C., http://www.kkc.com) |
| Qui Tam Information Center (Bauman & Rasor Group, Inc., investigators) http://www.quitam.com/ |
| Qui Tam Online Network http://www.quitamonline.com/ |
| Taxpayers Against Fraud (Washington, D.C.) http://www.taf.org/ (Phillips & Cohen LLP, a/k/a/ www.whistleblowers.com, www.phillipsandcohen.com, www.qui-tam-law-firm.com |
| Project LAW http://www.projectlaw.org/ |
"Independent" Organizations |
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| Government activities concern many advocacy
organizations {AS WELL AS THE SPONSORS TRIPOD PUT ON THIS PAGE AND WHICH THE AUTHOR EMPHATICALLY DOES NOT RECOMMEND, ESPECIALLY SINCE THEIR UNWANTED ADDITION CAUSED THE AUTHOR'S LINKS TO DISAPPEAR}. Because these interest groups AND UNSPONSORED ADVERTISERS
are not governmental (even if some are nonpartisan),
most civil servants consult them only after
retaliation begins, not before internal whistleblowing.
Again, the philosophy is to work within the
system, first, and not start out making waves.
Agency loyalty avoids colleagues's disapproval
of outside involvement. Clearly, if this
approach always worked, neither this web
page nor these groups would exist. The web links to the left are of four types: general advocacy organizations, specialized advocacy groups, private firms and non-US organizations. Political parties themselves are excluded, although some of this undemocratic sample is partisan. Again, this list should not be seen as any type of endorsement. |
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Learning the Agenda |
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| Please learn an organization's agenda and
resources before getting heavily involved.
Each group's operating budget must must come
from somewhere. Most of these survive financially
through public solicitations (hence a media
emphasis) or attorney referrals or even industry
contributions. Nonprofit is a tax status--even
organizations with many volunteers need money
for office supplies and a professional staffer
or two to handle the phones and the volunteers.
Problems may arise where the organization is not up-front about its funding or viewpoint. The hidden agenda may not be a compatible with a whistleblower's philosophy or interests. Organizations it can burn clients by not delivering promised services, or by promoting an organizational agenda which differs from that of the whistleblower "client." Evasiveness can be a red flag for future problems. |
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Attorney Referrals |
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| Referrals to private attorneys can be win-win
situations for both the organization and
an embattled whistleblower. However, as hinted
at above, they also mean fees for the referred attorney, and possibly
for the referring entity. To the extent that an organization makes referrals, if the referral does not work out, it may either be able to help the dissatisfied whistleblower or ensure that others do not get the same treatment. The author acknowledges that private attorneys cost money, and such is not always well spent. Few federal employees are willing to spend what can amount to thousands of dollars (ranging from the price of a car to that of a house if the employee is already in trouble) to get legal advice. The cruel joke is that with some attorneys, you get what you pay for, or less. |
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