Why prosecute snowden

None of these paths involve passing sensitive materials to the press. Snowden may well have uncovered illegal and unconstitutional behavior. The author Tim Weiner reminded us about Minaret in the s, when the N. However, by leaking information about the behavior rather than reporting it through legal channels, Snowden chose to break the law, too.

This law is intended to keep legitimate national-security data and assets safe from our enemies; it is intended to keep Americans safe. Whatever the motive, national security leaks damage our ability to defend ourselves.

If he broke the law, which he appears to be publicly confessing, he should be prosecuted. So should anyone at the N. Was Snowden the only person involved in this leak? According to the latest data [PDF] from the Information Security Oversight Office, in FY , challenges by government employees and contractors to classifications sextupled over the rate, with an increase in successful challenges of 56 percent or reductions in classification status , and the number of newly created national security secrets dropped to a record low.

It would be unrealistic to think that the United States might allow Snowden or any other national security whistleblower to raise a public interest defense in the foreseeable future. But public awareness of the increasing acceptance for such a defense around the world could well contribute to efforts to promote greater attention to the public interest in classification and declassification decisions and, in general, to reduce secrecy concerning matters that should be the subject of informed and robust public debate.

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn. Get In Touch Contact Us. Why or why not? Make an argument by weighing the competing values in this case. What about if it would save lives?

Is there a circumstance in which you think whistleblowing would be ethically ideal? Justice News Department of Justice. Thursday, October 1, Component s :. Civil Division.