This is HUGE - the Espionage Act of 1917!!!!

[jillan]

Anyone with a legal background out there, please help us lay folk;(

This was briefly mentioned on Meet the Press yesterday, and I decided
to google it today.



http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/espionageact.htm

and that led me to this

http://wikisource.org/wiki/Intelligence_Identities_Protection_Act

After looking thru these, I don't see anyway that KKKarl can walk away from this.

BUT - I am hoping that someone in DU-land has a better understanding of LAW than I.

[shireen]

1. discussed on Thom Hartmann's show

it was discussed during the 2nd hour.

[jillan]

3. today?? Well what did Thom say?

[IChing]

2. This was overturned in 1921, I believe, from my memory.

[shraby]

4. Nope, it wasn't but it was modified to some

degree.

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[jillan]

7. This link discusses both/1917 & 1982 acts, & how they may apply

to what is happening right now

http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20030815.html

[xxqqqzme]

6. From Wikipedia,

'...While much of the laws were repealed in 1921, major portions of the Espionage Act remain part of U.S. law (18 USC 793, 794) and form the legal basis for most classified information.'...

[IChing]

8. here is a link and info I found

This act made it a crime, punishable by a $10,000 fine and 20 years in jail, for a person to convey false reports or false statements with intent to interfere with the operation or success of the military or naval forces of the United States or to promote the success of its enemies.

The laws were ruled constitutional in the United States Supreme Court case Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S. 47 (1919).

The law was later extended by the Sedition Act of 1918, which made it illegal even to speak out against the government.

During and after World War I the Espionage Act and the Sedition Act were used in prosecutions that would be considered constitutionally unacceptable in the U.S. even in the political climate after the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack on New York's World Trade Center. While much of the laws were repealed in 1921, major portions of the Espionage Act remain part of U.S. law (18 USC 793, 794) and form the legal basis for most classified information.
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/encyclopedia/E/Es/Espionage_Act_of_1917.htm

[jillan]

9. so, parts of it are still law! n/t

[spooky3]

10. Here's a related thread plus a link to the related law it mentions:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=1951726&mesg_id=1951726

http://www.capdefnet.org/fdprc/contents/past_newsletters/january_1995/title/18_usc_793.htm

[jillan]

12. Thanks for posting that

It's good to see that there is a little bit of discussion on this.

They broke the law. period. They are not walking away.

[jillan]

11. Here is the actual transcript from Meet the Press yesterday

MR. TAYLOR: You never know. It would be awfully odd for a prosecutor to go to put as many people through as long an ordeal as this one has and then come up and said, "Well, I couldn't find anything." Maybe that's one reason he's carrying it to this point. If you look at all the signs, it appears the theory he may be pursuing, or one theory, is that people in the White House leaked this based on official information. And by the way, there's another law that everybody's forgotten, that says you intentionally leak a classified document, you've committed a felony, bang; 1917 espionage law that's been used in the past to prosecute someone for doing that and for only doing that.

MR. RUSSERT: To...

MR. SAFIRE: Intentionally.

MR. TAYLOR: Intentionally.

MR. RUSSERT: To be...

MR. TAYLOR: He knew it was leaked.

MR. RUSSERT: To be continued. We've got to go.

MR. TAYLOR: Yeah.

MR. RUSSERT: We'll be right back.
___________________________________________________________________

Stuart Taylor, from National Journal