Jack Goldsmith in WaPo: Why The U.S. Shouldn't Try Julian Assange

[Hissyspit]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/10/AR2011021006324.html

Why The U.S. Shouldn't Try Julian Assange

The first problem with going after Assange is that the effort is likely to fail. Extraditing Assange from England (where he is now) or Sweden (where he may go to face charges of sexual assault) would not be easy, especially since Assange's actions might be deemed a "political offense," for which exceptions are made to extradition obligations.

Even if the U.S. government surmounts this hurdle, a criminal conviction is not assured. The most relevant law, the Espionage Act, is famously overbroad and thus an uncertain basis for prosecution. This is one reason the government has never successfully prosecuted a member of the media for soliciting or publishing classified information. Nor has the government ever successfully prosecuted a non-media organization for solicitation or receipt of classified information.

A failed attempt to prosecute Assange would be worse than not prosecuting him. It would make the United States look even more ineffectual than it does as a result of the leaks.

A successful prosecution, on the other hand, would not achieve the desired deterrent effect. WikiLeaks copycats are quickly proliferating around the globe, beyond the U.S. government's effective reach. A conviction would make a martyr of Assange, embolden copycat efforts and illustrate the limits of American law to stop them.

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[kenny blankenship]

1. If a US national received secret documents of the Chinese government and published them

would the US honor a request from the government in Beijing for his arrest and extradition? How about if the case involved documents of the government of Iran? Or Burma? Or Algeria? We would laugh that off and say there is no crime to arrest for, secrets are not property, and the other country should have done a better job keeping its secrets.

The notion that the US government would try Julian Assange, a non-US national for releasing copies of US State Dept. and DoD documents, insisting that OTHER countries help them, is absurd, and frankly it's the behavior of a tyrant.

[leftstreet]

2. K&R