Public speech now being criminalized

[babylonsister]

http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/

February 11, 2006
The AIPAC Case: Criminalizing Public Speech

In an unprecedented and previously unimaginable case, two former employees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) were accused last year of mishandling classified government information. Now they have asked a federal court to dismiss the charges against them.

The prosecution of the former AIPAC officials, Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman, represents an extraordinary attempt by the Bush Administration to use the Espionage Act to restrict the activities and even the conversations of members of the public who are not government employees.

“The prosecutors in this case have taken the unprecedented step of criminalizing an alleged leak not just against the government official who was charged with protecting such information, but also members of public policy organization with First Amendment protection who listened to what this government official had to say,” the new defense motion to dismiss states.

“If this indictment is allowed to stand, a statute which in the first instance is intended to address classic spying will not only be applied to erring government officials but now will be applied to private American citizens pursuing first amendment protected activities.”

more...

[punpirate]

1. Remember that this is the defense's argument...

... and, as I recall, these "private citizens" didn't just talk about the information themselves, they also relayed it to the government of a foreign country. That doesn't make them just private citizens--it also makes them a conduit for classified information. There may also be Logan Act issues that have yet to come to the fore.

[babylonsister]

2. Thanks, punpirate, for the reminder.

I just did a bit of reading at google, and while these guys could be innocent, it's not looking good. I'd forgotten all about this case.