Amend or Repeal the Espionage Act To Protect Journalists and Whistle-blowers

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http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/08/15-3




Isn't it high time to amend or repeal the Espionage Act of 1917 so that it can't be used to charge whistle-blowers or journalists with "aiding the enemy"?

Note that this demand is completely separable from saying that there should be no consequences for whistle-blowers who leak classified information to the media or journalists who publish classified information that is leaked to them. If I say that I am against the death penalty, it does not mean that I am against consequences for people who are found guilty of committing murder. It means that I don't think that execution by the state should be one of those consequences. If I say that I am against the use of incarceration to punish nonviolent drug offenses, it does not mean that I am against consequences for people who are found guilty of nonviolent drug offenses. It means that I don't think that incarceration should be one of those consequences. If I say that I am against a war - or killing Iranian civilians by cutting off their access to essential medicines, in blatant violation of international humanitarian law - to prevent Iran from "acquiring a nuclear weapons capability," [sic] it does not mean that I think that efforts by Iran to pursue a "nuclear weapons capability" should face no consequences. The question is not whether the conduct being sanctioned should face no sanction. The question is whether "the punishment fits the crime."

You don't have to think that Edward Snowden or Bradley Manning or John Kiriakou are heroes - for the record, I do think that they are heroes - and patriots, Mr. President - but if you don't, I still want to recruit you for reform - to say that these men should not have been, and should not be, charged as foreign spies, nor threatened with being so charged. To treat government employees - or government contractors - who leak classified information to the media in the public interest as foreign spies is a deep stain on our democracy. And it's high time to permanently remove this stain.

Bradley Manning was charged with "aiding the enemy" for leaking diplomatic cables to the New York Times and the Guardian via WikiLeaks. He was found not guilty on this charge. American journalism breathed a "sigh of relief" when Manning was acquitted on the charge.