Monday, March 13, 2006
the Espionage Act
Considering the political climate, and the apparent bias and agenda of the media, I suspect we're going to hear a lot more about this subject...
Read about it in Michael Barone's column, "the Reach of the Espionage Act". He begins:
"Here's a fascinating issue, and one of great importance for the news business: whether the government should prosecute newspapers for printing classified information and government employees for divulging it. Specifically, should the New York Times be prosecuted for its Dec. 16, 2005, story on the NSA surveillance of communications between suspected al Qaeda operatives abroad and people in the United States?"
"Yes, comes the answer of Gabriel Schoenfeld in the March Commentary. Or at least I think his answer is yes; his concluding sentence is, "The laws governing what the Times has done are perfectly clear; will they be enforced?" The laws are the Espionage Act of 1917, together with a section added by Congress in 1950. And his argument that the conduct of the Times and its sources in government is covered by these statutes is, I think, irrefutable."
