Why the U.S. Should Not Try Julian Assange

Jack Goldsmith has an excellent piece in the Washington post about why the United States should not try Julian Assange over the leaked State Department cables. As I've said before, Assange has done nothing wrong. Distribution of classified documents through Wikileaks is no different than what the American press (who are most loudly crying foul) do everyday.

All Assange has done is offer a means of distribution through Wikileaks. This is no different than the Associated Press who regularly distributed leaked classified information to news outlets across America. This is no different than MSNBC or Fox News running a story about new information about a war from an anonymous source.

A conviction against Assange would require the courts to go against the longstanding interpretation of the First Amendment protecting the distribution of leaked classified documents through the press. I find it rather ironic that the people who seem to call out most loudly for free press are the same ones calling for the prosecution of a journalist.

As Goldsmith says in the article, the only thing the government could even realistically pursue a conviction against Assange would be conspiracy with PFC Bradley Manning, but even that requires evidence that the government can't seem to find and would go completely against the principle of Wikileaks' operation.

I see Wikileaks as another avenue for Americans who rightfully distrust their government to verify whether or not what they are being told is right or wrong. I actually read foreign news sources on occasion because I find it interesting how much the same news story can vary from one country's supposedly free press to another's.