Criminalizing exposure of government wrongdoing

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Criminalizing exposure of government wrongdoing

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 21:41:21 -0500 (EST)

 

 

 

http://glenngreenwald.blogspot.com/2006/03/criminalizing-exposure-of-government.\

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Sunday, March 12, 2006

Criminalizing exposure of government wrongdoing

 

This article from Editor & Publisher reports that the proposed

legislation for the so-called Terrorist Surveillance Act of 2006 to be

introduced by Ohio Sen. Michael DeWine -- the principal purpose of

which is to legalize the Bush Administration's illegal warrantless

eavesdropping on Americans -- contains unprecedented provisions which

create whole new categories of crimes designed to punish any future

discussion of the President's eavesdropping activities, including by

reporters:

 

 

Reporters who write about government surveillance could be

prosecuted under proposed legislation that would solidify the

administration's eavesdropping authority, according to some legal

analysts who are concerned about dramatic changes in U.S. law. . . .

 

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the draft of the

legislation, which could be introduced as soon as next week.

 

The draft would add to the criminal penalties for anyone who

" intentionally discloses information identifying or describing " the

Bush administration's terrorist surveillance program or any other

eavesdropping program conducted under a 1978 surveillance law. Under

the boosted penalties, those found guilty could face fines of up to $1

million, 15 years in jail or both.

 

Kate Martin, director of the Center for National Security Studies,

said the measure is broader than any existing laws. She said, for

example, the language does not specify that the information has to be

harmful to national security or classified.

 

" The bill would make it a crime to tell the American people that

the president is breaking the law, and the bill could make it a crime

for the newspapers to publish that fact, " said Martin, a civil

liberties advocate.

 

 

While DeWine's office denied any intention to criminalize discussions

by journalists of these programs, that is clearly the effect. And the

fact that they are attempting to add whole new categories of criminal

conduct arising out of any discussion of the Administration's

eavesdropping conduct -- even if such discussion does not entail the

harmful disclosure of classified information -- demonstrates, yet

again, that the primary lesson learned by the Administration from the

NSA scandal is that new ways must be invented to punish those who

report on the illegal conduct in which they engage.

 

These new provisions in the DeWine legislation are clearly part of the

Administration's campaign to increase the scope of whistle-blowing and

journalistic activities which are treated by the government as

criminal. As part of that campaign, Pat Roberts last month announced

that he would introduce legislation adding new categories of

whistle-blowing activities to the criminal law and which severely

increase the penalties for violations of those laws.

 

The Administration self-evidently intends to use the criminal law to

prevent further revelations of their illegal behavior, whether the

disclosures come from ordinary citizens, government whistle-blowers or

investigative journalists. They want anyone who is considering

disclosing government wrongdoing to fear the prospects of criminal

prosecution so that they remain silent. As I've documented several

times before, journalists are the primary target of this intimidation

campaign, but it extends far beyond them as well.

 

One no longer is surprised when the media ignores or fails to

understand severe crises in our government, but one would expect that

if they take a stand against anything, it would be crusades of this

sort to intimidate and silence the adversarial press. So far, at

least, their silence is deafening.

 

posted by Glenn Greenwald | 10:58 AM