12 People Who Were Punished for Being Heroes
![12 People Who Were Punished for Being Heroes](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/5/3/890853_320x180.jpg)
Well, we learned something new today. There’s a law against the “wrongful prolongation of life,” and you can definitely be sued for it! Even if you’re a nurse. So the next time one of you nurses sees a woman experiencing cardiac arrest, you better run across the wing to that filing cabinet, rifle through each page to find that she does not in fact have a “Do Not Resuscitate” order, then run back to save her life. Lifeguards be warned as well. We know that it’s your natural inclination to dive right in (heck, you’ve made a career of it) but you’re gonna wanna think about how fast and effective you pull someone from the water, or you might wind up in court.
Over the years, whistleblowing has been a coin flip of good and bad results. Sometimes they’re praised for sounding off against shady, illegal doings, but sometimes the American government gets a tad pissy about being exposed, and could dole out a hefty sentence for alerting the public. We don’t want to deter any reader from jumping in to help or calling out injustice, because we’re 99% sure that most people won’t sue or imprison you for it. Sadly, here are 12 prime examples of selfless, downright heroic acts that did not go unpunished.
Edward Snowden proved what we all suspected.
![PUNISHED HEROES THE WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS WHISTLEBLOWER. Edward Snowden leaked thousands of top secret documents about the NSA's surveillance of American citizens. The U.S. government considers him a traitor, and he faces 30 years in prison if he ever returns to the U.S. CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/9/6/890596.jpg)
Wasn’t it a good thing that the lifeguard waited too long?!
![PUNISHED HEROES SUED FOR INTERRUPTING SUICIDE. In Fairfax, VA, a man tried to drown himself in a pool, and sued the lifeguard who pulled him out, claiming he waited too long to jump in. The police chief said, It's a frivolous lawsuit - we saved a young man's life. Не was trying to commit suicide. CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/9/7/890597.jpg)
Sure, you saved me. But not like, fast enough.
![PUNISHED HEROES SUED FOR SAVING A DROWNING WOMAN. A man noticed a woman drowning in the ocean, but the lifeguard was in the bathroom. Не swam out and saved her, but she sued him for not acting fast enough. The case was dismissed, but he had to pay for his own legal bills. CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/9/4/890594.jpg)
How dare you expose our war crimes!
![PUNISHED HEROES CHELSEA MANNING EXPOSED THE U.S. MILITARY. While serving in Iraq as an intelligence analyst, she gave hundreds of thousands of top secret documents to WikiLeaks revealing the wanton deaths of Iraqi civilians, and was sentenced to 35 years in prison. CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/9/3/890593.jpg)
Wanna expose our torture methods, do ya?
![PUNISHED HEROES JOHN KIRIAKOU EXPOSED A TORTURE PROGRAM. In 2007, he was the first U.S. government official to verify that the CIA used waterboarding as an interrogation method on military detainees. Не was charged under the Espionage Act and sentenced to 30 months in prison. CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/9/2/890592.jpg)
Tattle on the bad guys! Not us!
![PUNISHED HEROES STEPHEN JIN-WOO KIM REPORTED NUCLEAR TESTS. In the U.S. State Department, he revealed that North Korea planned to respond to UN sanctions with a nuclear test. Не gave the story to Fox News, and was sentenced to 13 months in prison since the report also revealed some classified U.S. information. CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/9/5/890595.jpg)
91 years was enough for this Florida woman.
![PUNISHED HEROES SUED FOR LIFE- PROLONGING MEASURES. A Florida woman sued a hospital for giving her 91-year-old mother CPR and other invasive life-prolonging measures despite a Do Not Resuscitate order. CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/8/9/890589.jpg)
Via Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The first Edward Snowden.
![PUNISHED HEROES THOMAS DRAKE EXPOSED THE TRAILBLAZER PROJECT. After 9/11, the project enabled the NSA to analyze data shared through U.S citizens' cell phones and emails. Не felt it was unlawful and leaked documents. Не faced 35 years in prison, but was charged for a misdemeanor in a settlement. CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/8/6/890586.jpg)
Thanks a lot asshole, now I’m still alive.
![PUNISHED HEROES A HOSPITAL DIDN'T HONOR DO NOT RESUSCITATE. When hospital staff found Rodney Knoepfle unconscious in the bathroom, they gave him CPR, and were sued for cheating him out of a natural death. They didn't read his DNR, and he won $409,000 for a wrongful prolongation of life. CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/8/7/890587.jpg)
Pull me to safety… Gently.
![PUNISHED HEROES A WOMAN WAS SUED FOR SAVING HER FRIEND. In 2004, Lisa Torti was sued for pulling her now-paralyzed friend from a car wreckage. The victim claimed she caused injury by yanking her like a rag doll to safety. CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/9/0/890590.jpg)
Saving lives ruined his own.
![PUNISHED HEROES ARTHORY - - PA RICHARD JEWELL A security guard at the 1996 Summer Olympics who reported a backpack full of pipe bombs was accused of planting them, and skewered by the media. This destroyed him, and he died at 44. The real culprit, Eric Rudolph, pleaded guilty to it in 2005. CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/9/1/890591.jpg)
Paving the way for future whistleblowers.
![PUNISHED HEROES AMERICA'S FIRST WHISTLEBLOWERS. In 1777, Samuel Shaw and Richard Marven reported their commanding officer, Commodore Essek Hopkins, for torturing British prisoners. They were dismissed from the Navy and imprisoned for one year, until Congress enacted the nation's first whistleblower protection law. CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/8/8/890588.jpg)