ACLU Subpoena Squashed
In a victory for free speech, federal prosecutors withdrew a subpoena against the ACLU, a subpoena that would, if allowed, have successfully buried all copies of a leaked government document currently in the hands of the ACLU and its attorneys. According to an article in the NY Times, “The subpoena was unusual in that it sought not only to gather evidence but also to confiscate all tangible traces of the information in the document, apparently with the goal of preventing its distribution . . . The effort to retrieve all copies of the document was a novel and, according to many legal experts, improper use of a grand jury subpoena. The subpoena cited a provision of the espionage laws that requires people in possession of some sorts of national security information to return it to the government if asked. But the A.C.L.U. said that the document at issue did not qualify and that, in any event, a subpoena was the wrong way to enforce the law.” If you want to read “the document in question” it’s now available in pdf form, and is clearly not a threat to national security.
This is a case of the Bush Administration trying to make laws such as their Patriot Act be a “One size fits all” mechanism to hide whatever they want to hide. In this particular instance the subpoena was dropped only after transcripts of a closed hearing were released, within which the Judge in the case suggested that the government was going to lose. During the closed hearing, Judge Rakoff at one point admonished the Federal Prosecutor, saying, “I’m old enough to remember a case called the Pentagon Papers.”
The article goes on to state, “Mr. Romero, the A.C.L.U.’s executive director, said the case would have a lasting impact. “It certainly helps the press and whistle-blowers to resist the strong-arm efforts of the government,” he said.”
Why was the subpoena dropped? Though not the reason given by prosecutors, the rest of us can read between the lines. Heaven forbid a legal precedent be set that permanently challenges the Top Dog’s God Given right to squash the rest of us like bugs . . .
Technorati Tags: Patriot Act, Bush, ACLU, Whistle Blower
