Elizabeth Nolan Brown, Reason - Let’s put aside Assange for a moment—because when laws are written or precedents set based only on whether Bad People are bad, we all lose. We let powerful figures convince us that giving that Bad Person what they deserve is what matters most, consequences be damned. And then we end up creating all sorts of new injustices to “correct” for a perceived past one.
What the government and its cheerleaders are really asking here is for us to suspend fundamental principles and practices underlying free speech and a free press.
It is not uncommon for confidential sources in government, business, and other powerful institutions to leak information to journalists and publishers. This is how we’ve found out about some of the biggest political scandals of the past 100 years. But now the U.S. Department of Justice is suggesting that these basic news-gathering and reporting functions are criminal.
... The Assange prosecution “would be unprecedented and unconstitutional and would open the door to criminal investigations of other news organizations,” the ACLU’s Ben Wizner tells Sullivan.
As an analogy, our Miranda rights. If you're arrested in the U.S. you have to be informed of your rights. Virtually everyone agrees that this is a good and just thing. Miranda, however, was a terrible person who got away with kidnapping and rape even though he confessed because he hadn't been told his rights. Where's the justice in that? It's in defending and strengthening the legal system.
ReplyDeleteSimilarly, the way people feel about Assange shouldn't, legally, be relevant. What's important is enforcing the laws and defending constitutional rights.
Assange has been charged with hacking. The statute of limitations for hacking is 5 years which has past. The statute of limitations for terrorist hacking however is 8 years. Coincidentally, he was charged right before this timer expired.
The case will hinge on whether the courts determine that Assange committed a terrorist act by attempting (and failing) to crack a password that was never used in order to help a source remain anonymous.
I really fear for Assange's safety if he is extradited to the US. I suspect if he goes to trial, even if he only gets a few years sentence, that he will be tortured within prison, and/or killed extrajudicially before he can leave the US. I would not be surprised that he would be framed for a new crime, after trial, so he could be disappeared into the prison system for a long time.
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