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I'm not a lawyer, but it seems to me that the two most relevant pieces of law to this case are 18 U.S. Code § 798[1] and the First Amendment[2]. I think having

I'm not a lawyer, but it seems to me that the two most relevant pieces of law to this case are 18 U.S. Code § 798[1] and the First Amendment[2]. I think having read both of these is a minimum prerequisite for having an opinion on how the law should be enforced: you can't say how the law should be enforced if you don't even know what the law is. I also think that the following are two very different questions: 1. Is what Edward Snowden did legal? 2. Is what Edward Snowden did ethical? It's dangerous to be right when the government is wrong. [1] https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/798 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/798 [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Amendment_to_the_United_...

AndrewKemendo 7y ago
There is nobody who questions whether his actions were legal, they clearly were not. Snowden acknowledges this. So to that end, he could have a completely fair trial and still be found guilty and sentenced to punishment. The follow on question is whether the law is constitutional. So far the government hasn't agreed that it is unconstitutional, and the USA Freedom act is a result of the interpreted language, see: ACLU v Clapper Klayman v Obama Jewel V NSA
- dragonwriter 7y ago
  > There is nobody who questions whether his actions were legal, A number of people have suggested that at least some of the programs he revealed were illegally classified to conceal their own illegality (and at least one was found to be illegal in one of the court cases fueled by the revelations), and that no lawful prosecution can proceed for revealing material illegally classified in that way.
- deleted 7y ago
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nabla9 7y ago
It's obvious that Snowden broke laws. But Snowden can provide evidence that whistleblowing would not work as way to provide evidence of wrongdooings. Other global surveillance whistleblowers received punitive treatment (William Binney, Ed Loomis, and J. Kirk Wiebe, Thomas A. Drake). He committed political crime and if he is judged by his peers in open court they can take that into account.
hiuhhhhr 7y ago
This attitude is exactly why the United States is no longer a nation of laws, but instead a country rules by the arbitrary exercise of power where the elites get a separate treatment from everyone else. What is true and fair and inline with the bill of rights and all other rights, which should be reserved to the people and not the state, is exceeding clear to the every day American and it takes the elites and experts to tell us white is black and up is down.

AndrewKemendo 7y ago

There is nobody who questions whether his actions were legal, they clearly were not. Snowden acknowledges this. So to that end, he could have a completely fair trial and still be found guilty and sentenced to punishment. The follow on question is whether the law is constitutional. So far the government hasn't agreed that it is unconstitutional, and the USA Freedom act is a result of the interpreted language, see: ACLU v Clapper Klayman v Obama Jewel V NSA

dragonwriter 7y ago
> There is nobody who questions whether his actions were legal, A number of people have suggested that at least some of the programs he revealed were illegally classified to conceal their own illegality (and at least one was found to be illegal in one of the court cases fueled by the revelations), and that no lawful prosecution can proceed for revealing material illegally classified in that way.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

nabla9 7y ago

It's obvious that Snowden broke laws. But Snowden can provide evidence that whistleblowing would not work as way to provide evidence of wrongdooings. Other global surveillance whistleblowers received punitive treatment (William Binney, Ed Loomis, and J. Kirk Wiebe, Thomas A. Drake). He committed political crime and if he is judged by his peers in open court they can take that into account.

hiuhhhhr 7y ago

This attitude is exactly why the United States is no longer a nation of laws, but instead a country rules by the arbitrary exercise of power where the elites get a separate treatment from everyone else. What is true and fair and inline with the bill of rights and all other rights, which should be reserved to the people and not the state, is exceeding clear to the every day American and it takes the elites and experts to tell us white is black and up is down.