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I don’t think it should be a factor at this stage. Assange will get the time to argue he’s a journalist in the US. However, I’m sure the judge will be influenc
by maxlybbert 7y ago
I don’t think it should be a factor at this stage. Assange will get the time to argue he’s a journalist in the US.
However, I’m sure the judge will be influenced by her estimate of how likely Assange’s defense is to win their case.
- maxlybbert 7y agoConsider the alternative: the Espionage Act is almost never used, partly because there is a very strong chance it’s unconstitutional. Do we expect a UK judge to determine whether a US law violates the US Constitution as part of an extradition hearing? Or does it make more sense to extradite and have the US court system rule on the law’s constitutionality? The UK at least is a common law country with historical connections to the US and a common language. I would expect a UK judge to do a better job of applying US law than a judge from a civil law country. Yes, the inconvenience of being extradited and spending time in jail should mean something, but in practice the courts don’t give that a lot of weight. They just say they’ve balanced the relevant factors and made a decision.