Should Edward Snowden return to America and face up to 30 years in prison?

[kentuck]

He might die in prison. Is it worth it?

Of course, he would get a jury trial and, if his cause is just, then he should be able to persuade a jury that what he did may have been wrong, but our Constitution grants all of us a certain amount of privacy rights and no one, not even the government (especially the government) has a right to gather and hold private information on American citizens (information that might shock them) .

If his cause is just, he could say that, at this time in America, he did not feel he could get a fair hearing from Congress or either Party and that is why he had to leave the country. His fear was that they would tell him the information was classified and he should say nothing to anyone about it. Everybody knows how deeply divided this country is right now? There is no place for fairness.

Also, he could say that he has not leaked information to anyone except news sources, including Wikileaks. The other two sources were the Guardian and the Washington Post. They make the decision to print a story or not.

But he felt it was his responsibility, as a good citizen, to let the people know what was done in secret, behind their backs. Our government is not supposed to work like that...

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

1. In a trial in which evidence is withheld because of "National Security"? I think not.

[kentuck]

2. You make a good point.

I would agree.

[idwiyo]

3. No.

[newfie11]

4. No

[HipChick]

5. He actually committed a crime..

Stealing govt property...laptops....I wonder if the information he took could be classified as intellectual property..many IT companies make you sign on paper that you won't steal that either..

[galileoreloaded]

6. lets see.

gov't engages in shitty subterfuge that has huge kinetic energy potential to fuck shit up.

gov't is, as we are learning more daily, inept and unable to manage the monster they built.

guy sees it and says "i have a moral position, this isn't right" which just about everyone agrees with IRT our national customs.

guy grows a pair and acts.

nope. no jail. IMHO.

[Cleita]

7. If we had a justice system like we did thirty years ago, I think he should come back and

face the music. But, instead we have a justice system that detains prisoners of war indefinitely, to the point that they are trying to starve themselves to death, that tortures whistle blowers like Bradley Manning before even going to trial and that commits many other abuses that we once attributed to nations like North Korea, China and once the Soviet Union. So for that reason I hope he gets away.

[kentuck]

9. Wow!

That is a very difficult truth to accept. But our justice is not what it was 30 years ago because we were not vigilant enough in protecting our Bill of Rights, including the First and the Fourth Amendment.

[dkf]

8. With this power corrupted make up their own laws crew, no way.

[SamKnause]

10. Snowden

NO !!!!

He should stay as far away from the U.S. as possible.

The justice system in the U.S. is as corrupt as the government.

The U.S. tortures.
The U.S. has the death penalty.
The U.S. kills American citizens without due process on foreign soil.
The U.S. kills innocent people with drone attacks.
The U.S. invades, occupies and bullies.

He should not come back to the U.S.

No country should ever extradite a person to the U.S..

[siligut]

11. Of course not

What good would that do?