> At his trial, Mr Ellsberg was not able to argue that he leaked the Pentagon Papers in the public interest. This argument was irrelevant, the judge ruled, because the act provides no such defence, which is often invoked by journalists.
Interestingly, Snowden has said he would return to the US for a fair trial, i.e., one in which he could make a public interest defence.[0] Among his supporters is Ellsberg:
> Ellsberg said, “Ed would be crazy to come back for a trial.”
> “Without amending the Espionage Act or rescinding it you cannot get a fair trial for a whistleblower in this case,” he said.[1]
The jury acquitted anyway, but do you think Emmett Till's killers should have been able to present a "he was black so it wasn't murder for me to lynch him" defense?
We ask juries to render a verdict based on the law.
The law can be changed, and in this case it should.
Snowden's detractors have claimed he has given US intelligence to Russia. I am not aware of any publicly available evidence of this, but very well, let us assume that this is true. In that case, grant him his request for a public interest defence, and convict him on those grounds instead.
> The jury acquitted anyway, but do you think Emmett Till's killers should have been able to present a "he was black so it wasn't murder for me to lynch him" defense?
I guess? The jury's going to be thinking it anyway, so it might as well be addressed by defense and prosecution.
> We ask juries to render a verdict based on the law.
A guilty verdict needs to be based on the law. For not guilty it's probably best if it's almost always based on the law.
Call me naive but when you are accused by the state of wrongdoing I think that you should be able to say whatever you want in your own defense. Its fine for the judge to instruct the jury on the law, but it doesn't seem fine to me for the judge to prevent you from presenting whatever defense you see fit.
Interestingly, Snowden has said he would return to the US for a fair trial, i.e., one in which he could make a public interest defence.[0] Among his supporters is Ellsberg:
> Ellsberg said, “Ed would be crazy to come back for a trial.”
> “Without amending the Espionage Act or rescinding it you cannot get a fair trial for a whistleblower in this case,” he said.[1]
[0]: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/21/edward-snowd...
[1]: https://www.salemnews.com/news/local_news/ellsberg-snowden-d...