Committee of Concerned Scientists

An international non-profit organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars dedicated to protecting the human rights and scientific freedom of our colleagues around the world.

An independent non-profit organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars dedicated to protecting the human rights and scientific freedom of our colleagues around the world.

CCS Joins Science Organizations
In Protest of DOE Firing Scientist

Los Alamos National Laboratory and the town of...

Los Alamos National Laboratory and the town of Los Alamos, New Mexico (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Colleagues protested the firing of James E. Doyle, a political scientist with 17 years of employment with the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) after he published an article written on his own time and with his personal views that questioned US nuclear weapons policy. The agency, that had reviewed the article before publication, claimed that material that had not been deemed classified when he published was actually classified and fired him for disclosure, while Doyle believes his firing was retaliation for his views. CCS joins colleagues in what seems denial of free speech by Doyle.

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Dr. Ernest Moniz
Secretary of Energy
US Department of Energy
1000 Independence Ave. SW
Washington DC 20585

September 4, 2014

Dear Dr. Moniz:
We are writing in concern for Dr. James E. Doyle.

According to news reports, Doyle, a political scientist, was fired from the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) because of an article he published in an international journal that questioned the value of nuclear weapons and because of his post-publication challenge of a classification decision relating to the article. Doyle, an employee of 17 years, wrote the article on his own time and stated that the views were his own, but he asked and obtained clearance from LANL before publishing, according to an August 4, 2014 blog of the Union of Concerned Scientists.

The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) wrote a letter to you stating that “it is hard to see this turn of events as anything but tacit retaliation against Doyle for his outspokenness and his embrace of what may be a dissenting view on national nuclear policy.” FAS, a group associated with arms control efforts, said that such actions would have a chilling effect on the ability of the labs to conduct independent, impartial assessment of national policy options.” The DOE Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) on June 24, 2014 denied Doyle’s whistle-blower appeal in a pro-forma decision.

Based on our experience with our colleagues’ denials of freedom of speech and expression around the world, we believe that one of the strengths of the United States is the ability of individuals to engage in vigorous, unfettered debate about issues of national policy, within and without government. We urge you to investigate this situation and, if there has been retaliation for Doyle’s expression of opinion, to reinstate him in his position, as well as to compensate him for any loss he suffered.

Sincerely,

Joel L. Lebowitz, Paul H. Plotz, Walter Reich,
Eugene M. Chudnovsky, Alexander Greer

Co-Chairs, Committee of Concerned Scientists

Copies to:

Union of Concerned Scientists
Two Brattle Street
Cambridge MA 02138

Who We Are

Co-chairs

Joel L. Lebowitz, Rutgers University

Paul H. Plotz, M.D., Washington, DC

Walter Reich, George Washington University

Eugene Chudnovsky, Lehman College

Alexander Greer, Brooklyn College

Vice-chairs

Astronomy – Arno Penzias, New Enterprises Associates*

Biology – Max E. Gottesman, Columbia University

Chemistry – Zafra Lerman, MIMSAD Inc.

Computer Science – Rachelle Heller, The George Washington University

Computer Science – Jack Minker, University of Maryland, College Park

Engineering – Philip Sarachik, NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering

Mathematics – Simon Levin, Princeton University

Medical Sciences – J. Joseph Blum, Duke University

Honorary Board Members

Nancy Andrews, Duke University

David Baltimore, California Institute of Technology*

Alan J. Bard, University of Texas

Jacob Bigeleisen (deceased), SUNY, Stony Brook

Raoul Bott (deceased), Harvard University

Owen Chamberlain (deceased), University of California, Berkeley

Stanley Deser, Brandeis University

Edward Gerjuoy, University of Pittsburg

David Gross, (2004 Nobel Prize in Physics), Kavil Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara*

Pierre Hohenberg (deceased), New York University

Walter Kohn (deceased), University of California, Santa Barbara*

James Langer, University of California, Santa Barbara

Peter Lax, New York University

Louis Nirenberg, New York University

Marshall Nirenberg (deceased), National Institutes of Health*

Honorary Board Members

John C. Polanyi, University of Toronto*

Stuart Rice, University of Chicago

Sir Richard J. Roberts, (1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology & Medicine), New England Biolabs*

Myriam Sarachick, City College of New York

Harold Scheraga, Cornell University

Sylvan Schweber (deceased), Brandeis University

Maxine Singer, Carnegie Institution of Washington

Alfred I. Tauber, Boston University

Steven Weinberg, University of Texas, Austin*

Myrna Weissman, Columbia University

Rosalyn S. Yalow (deceased), Mount Sinai School of Medicine*

* Nobel laureate

Committee of Concerned Scientists

c/o Alexandra R. Bender, Executive Director
P.O. Box 4525
Easton, PA 18043
Phone: (570) 994-2093
abender@concernedscientists.org