Let's say we want a society where civil disobedience is tolerated, but we also want to live under rule of law. To engage in civil disobedience ethically, I thin

Let's say we want a society where civil disobedience is tolerated, but we also want to live under rule of law. To engage in civil disobedience ethically, I think one must be prepared to bear the personal consequences of breaking the law. However, when the consequences for military / intelligence community leaks are anything up to and including life in prison, or death by hanging, this forces an extreme ethical dilemma. If we value civil disobedience as a society, maybe we ought to give it some protection under the laws. Obviously we can't allow disclosure of secrets based on subjective intent. But we could offer a sort of safe harbor where, if the leaker only discloses information that pertains to government actions or policies that he or she has a bona fide belief are illegal or immoral, then the penalties are limited to X years in prison. Would this tend to encourage leaks? Yes. But, it would still require a person to make a difficult personal decision before breaking secrecy laws.