Community | December 29, 2010 | 43 comments

My Parents Were Executed Under the Unconstitutional Espionage Act -- Here's Why We Must Fight to Protect Julian Assange

source: http://Change.org

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gerardange
The Espionage Act is a huge danger to our open society; it's been used to send hundreds of dissenters to jail just for voicing their opinions, transforming dissent into treason.
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Rumors are swirling that the United States is preparing to indict Wikileaks leader Julian Assange for conspiring to violate the Espionage Act of 1917. The modern version of that act states among many, many other things that: “Whoever, for the purpose of obtaining information respecting the national defense with intent or reason to believe that the information is to be used to the injury of the United States” causes the disclosure or publication of this material, could be subject to massive criminal penalties. It also states that: “If two or more persons conspire to violate any of the foregoing provisions … each of the parties to such conspiracy shall be subject to the punishment provided for the offense which is the object of such conspiracy.” (18 U.S. Code, Chapter 37, Section 793.)

I view the Espionage Act of 1917 as a lifelong nemesis. My parents were charged, tried and ultimately executed after being indicted for Conspiracy to Commit Espionage under that act.

The 1917 Act has a notorious history. It originally served to squelch opposition to World War I. It criminalized criticism of the war effort, and sent hundreds of dissenters to jail just for voicing their opinions. It transformed dissent into treason.

Many who attacked the law noted that the framers of the Constitution had specifically limited what constituted treason by writing it into the Constituton: “Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort” (Article III, section 3). The framers felt this narrow definition was necessary to prevent treason from becoming what some called “the weapon of a political faction.” Furthermore, in their discussions at the Constitutional Convention they agreed that spoken opposition was protected by the First Amendment and could never be considered treason.

It appears obvious that the Espionage Act is unconstitutional because it does exactly what the Constitution prohibits. It is, in other words, an effort to make an end run around the Treason Clause of the Constitution. Not surprisingly, however, as we’ve seen in times of political stress, the Supreme Court upheld its validity in a 5-4 decision. Although later decisions seemed to criticize and limit its scope, the Espionage Act of 1917 has never been declared unconstitutional. To this day, with a few notable exceptions that include my parents’ case, it has been a dormant sword of Damocles, awaiting the right political moment and an authoritarian Supreme Court to spring to life and slash at dissenters.

It is no accident that Julian Assange may face a “conspiracy” charge just as my parents did. All that is required of the prosecution to prove a conspiracy is to present evidence that two or more people got together and took one act in furtherance of an illegal plan. It could be a phone call or a conversation.

In my parents’ case the only evidence presented against my mother was David and Ruth Greenglasses’ testimony that she was present at a critical espionage meeting and typed up David’s handwritten description of a sketch. Although this testimony has since been shown to be false, even if it were true, it would mean that the government of the United States executed someone for typing.

But the reach of “conspiracy” is even more insidious. It means that ANYONE with whom my parents could have discussed their actions and politics could have been swept up and had similar charges brought against them if someone testified that those conversations included plans to commit espionage. Thus, the case against my parents was rightly seen by many in their political community of rank and file Communist Party Members as a threat to them all.

Viewing the Wikileaks situation through this lens, it becomes apparent why the government would seek to charge Assange with conspiracy. Not only Assange, but anyone involved in the Wikileaks community could be swept up in a dragnet. Just as in my parents’ case, the prosecutors could seek to bully some involved into ratting out others, in return for more favorable treatment. This divide and conquer approach would turn individuals against each other, sow the seeds of distrust within the broader community, and intimidate others into quiescence.

This kind of attack threatens every left wing activist. I urge all progressives to come to the defense of Julian Assange should he be indicted for violating the Espionage Act of 1917.

http://www.alternet.org/rights/149345/my_parents_were_executed_under_the_unconst...'s_why_we_must_fight_to_protect_julian_assange?page=entire
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43 comments // My Parents Were Executed Under the Unconstitutional Espionage Act -- Here's Why We Must Fight to Protect Julian Assange

  • nkeg87
  • PirateSauce
  • MrMxyzptlk
  • adamvelvetu
    • +4
      adamvelvetu  
    • MrMxyzptlk:

      Well, I think some of the author's point is that the evidence presented (against his mother at least) was a little weak and their conviction may have been more owed to the red scare climate of the time. I also don't want to defend a sentence that presents the illusion of safety and leaves a child parent-less. I think we should all care about what happens to Assange because he provides a forum for whistleblowers. If we truly support freedom it would stand to reason to support him.

    • 1 year ago
  • Vierotchka
  • MrMxyzptlk
  • MrMxyzptlk
  • adamvelvetu
    • 0
      adamvelvetu  
    • MrMxyzptlk:

      I think there's an inherent attractiveness to being dismissive..."Well, they had shit luck. Get over it." The same can also be said for wanting to talk tough but neither comes from a position of power.

    • 1 year ago
  • gerardange
    • +3
      gerardange  
    • MrMxyzptlk:

      Hey MrMxyzptlk.... Ever thought about looking in the mirror...? Because.... You're a little creepy man.!

      It is real easy to sit around in your underwear on your big fat ass and fling negative jabs from your computer all day and night... Yah that the way to do it! Just make rude comments about everything! Regardless if you have zero knowledge or all the facts on any subject you comment on... Blah... blah... blah...

      Ask Yourself.... What decent thing have you "ever done" with your life that even comes close on a global level to try and stop corruption???? To try and make the world a better place? Which Julian Assange has done. You can try and insult him saying this and that and anything else that comes out of your mouth.. ! But it still gets down to... What have you ever done...? WHAT... HAVE... YOU... EVER... DONE... ON... A...GLOBAL LEVEL?

      Maybe you should do more listening and less talking... you might learn something.

      Hey MrMxyzptlk... Live by example... not by JUST EMPTY BS.

    • 1 year ago
  • MrMxyzptlk
  • artemis6
  • unclecharlie
  • adamvelvetu
    • +4
      adamvelvetu  
    • unclecharlie:

      Wow. I just don't think that the charges are quite what they're made out to be by the American media. Besides, assuming he is guilty I don't think anybody is sticking up for his right to rape but rather his free speech.

    • 1 year ago
  • Vierotchka
  • CaptSutter
  • tommic
    • +2
      tommic  

    • I'll worry when my calls for social upheaval bring the government down on me, but I doubt that will happen. People can dissent, harbor views that are diametrically opposed to what the government does here and unless you've either really done something wrong or had unscrupulous friends who are on alist your not going to be prosecuted. To reflect back on 1917 is a stretch, times were different. I think I'll change my screen name to tommy che lol

    • 1 year ago
  • Napalm_Bomb
  • lookatmypix
  • artemis6
  • lookatmypix
  • jeffreyak
  • KSirys
    • +4
      KSirys  

    • The great US of A.... how about we start hanging people and cut their hands if they don't pay their taxes?? We should become another China!

    • 1 year ago
  • PzLuvHappeniz
    • 0
      PzLuvHappeniz  
    • KSirys:

      USA! USA! USA! HURRAY FOR FLAGS, FREEDOM, DEMOCRACY, AND THE AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE!!! (also hurray for a constitution upon which the nation was founded being metaphorically shit on by fascist government officials grabbing for power while silencing dissenters)

    • 1 year ago
  • adamvelvetu
    • 0
      adamvelvetu  
    • KSirys:

      Yeah, I feel that within the past couple of decades we've entered some kind of race to the bottom contest and we'll be damned if Iran, China, or anyone else is gonna beat us there.

    • 1 year ago
  • jubal
    • +8
      jubal  

    • The Espionage Act is a political law designed to be used on someone who has an opposing political view. It should be abolished.

    • 1 year ago
  • gerardange
    • +7
      gerardange  
    • Image

    • Robby at 2

      More About the Author: Robert Meeropol

      The Rosenberg Fund for Children was started by Robert Meeropol, who was orphaned at age six when both his parents, Ethel & Julius Rosenberg, were executed at the height of the McCarthy Era in the electric chair by the US Government.

      http://current.com/1r8kt4c

    • 1 year ago
  • jubal
  • artemis6
  • CalgarC
  • remanns
  • gerardange
  • gerardange
    • +7
      gerardange  
    • Image

    • My parents, Ethel & Julius Rosenberg ...............................

      More About the Author: Robert Meeropol

      My name is Robert Meeropol, but I was born Robert Rosenberg. When I was three, my parents, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, were arrested and charged with giving the secret of the Atomic Bomb to the Soviet Union. When I was six, the government executed my parents at the height of the McCarthy era. Now, more than fifty years later, I can sense the same chill winds that wreaked havoc on my life and many others, once again sweeping our nation.

      In recent years, we have witnessed the most rapid and widespread erosion of our civil liberties since the 1950’s. Those who speak out in opposition to our criminal war abroad and the growing repression at home are condemned as “traitors” and treated as enemies of the state.

      These conditions are familiar to anyone who lived through the anti-communist hysteria of the 1950’s. After my parents’ arrests, my relatives were so frightened of being associated with "communist spies" that they refused to take me into their homes. First I lived in a shelter. Later I lived with friends of my parents in New Jersey, but I was thrown out of school after the Board of Education found out who I was. After my parents' execution, the police even seized me from the home of my future adoptive parents, and I was placed in an orphanage.

      Bad as this was, it could have been much worse. As I grew older, I came to realize the debt I owed to so many generous individuals whom I never met, but who rallied to my support. As a result of their collective efforts and generosity, I grew up in a loving household and flourished in the supportive environment provided by child-oriented progressive institutions.

      In 1990 I figured out how I could repay the community that helped me survive. I initiated the Rosenberg Fund for Children to find and help children who are enduring the same kind of nightmare I endured as a child. You may be shocked to learn that there are hundreds of children in these circumstances in this country today! Moreover, as thousands of outraged young people across the nation protest against injustice, many of these activist “children” are themselves becoming the targets of repression.

      In 1990 Robert figured out how he could repay the progressive community that helped him survive. He founded the RFC to help children of targeted activists in the U.S. today- children who are experiencing the same nightmare he and his brother endured as youngsters.

      -------------------------------------------------------
      Since then, the RFC has awarded millions of dollars to benefit hundreds of children in the U.S. whose parents have been targeted because of their involvement in progressive movements including the struggles to preserve civil liberties, wage peace, safeguard the environment, combat racism and homophobia , and organize on behalf of workers, prisoners, immigrants and others whose human rights are under threat.

      Find out more about Our Story here, in a letter from Robert Meeropol.

      http://www.alternet.org/rights/149345/my_parents_were_executed_under_the_unconst...

    • 1 year ago
  • figgdimension
  • remanns
  • ras_menelik
    • +3
      ras_menelik  

    • On the eve of the 1917 revolution, 28,600 convicts were serving sentences of hard labor. After the Russian Revolution of 1917 the Russian penal system was taken over by the Bolsheviks. From 1918, camp-type detention facilities were set up, as a reformed analogy of the earlier system of penal labor (katorgas), operated in Siberia in Imperial Russia. The two main types were "Vechecka Special-purpose Camps" (особые лагеря ВЧК, osobiye lagerya VChK) and forced labor camps (лагеря принудительных работ, lagerya prinuditel'nikh rabot). They were installed for various categories of people deemed dangerous for the state: for common criminals, for prisoners of the Russian Civil War, for officials accused of corruption, sabotage and embezzlement, various political enemies and dissidents, as well as former aristocrats, businessmen and large land owners. These camps, however, were not on the same scale as those in the Stalin era. In 1928 there were 30,000 prisoners in camps, and the authorities were opposed to compelling them to work. In 1927 the official in charge of prison administration wrote that: "The exploitation of prison labour, the system of squeezing ‘golden sweat’ from them, the organization of production in places of confinement, which while profitable from a commercial point of view is fundamentally lacking in corrective significance – these are entirely inadmissible in Soviet places of confinement.”

    • 1 year ago
  • Vierotchka
    • +7
      Vierotchka  

    • Is the author one of the Rosenbergs' two sons? I fully support what this article says, and I fully support Julian Assange and WikiLeaks.

    • 1 year ago
  • gerardange
    • +1
      gerardange  
    • Vierotchka:

      Hi Vierotchka,

      To answer your question... Yes, Robert. I updated the post with his bio posted way at the top of the page - after the original story.

      As today.... We see our Government and Obama using the same legal frame work to try and railroad Julian Assange as McCarthy used to execute both of Roberts Parents...

      This is all done in our name.

      BUT... NOT MY NAME!!!

      I WILL HAVE NO PART IN THIS !!!

      I didn't want to post this news clip attached... but, we are living in historic times... It is time for everyone to realize that! The time has come for all of us to put down our Latte's & iPhones and use our voices and our bodies to try and stop this Fascism marching in our direction today we all need to STAND UP AND BE COUNTED!!! and save what freedoms we have left...

      Thank you Vierotchka, for your vigilance, your wise words, and your un-ending energy .

      Peace,

      Gerard

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0M1QUakwss

    • 1 year ago
  • Vierotchka
    • +4
      Vierotchka  
    • gerardange:

      I haven't seen anywhere any reference to Obama using that same legal framework to try and railroad Julian Assange. I don't think that even Hillary Clinton did so. I did hear of some Republican politicians doing so, some even calling for him to be executed or assassinated. I have also read numerous articles and seen legal experts say that it would be extremely difficult and possibly impossible to apply this 1917 law to Julian Assange. Other right-wing politicians want to create a new law so as to get to Julian Assange, but their problem is that Julian Assange cannot legally be prosecuted under any new ex post facto laws that might be cooked up.

    • 1 year ago
  • gerardange
    • +3
      gerardange  
    • Vierotchka:

      http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thecutline/20101213/ts_yblog_thecutline/if-assange...

      ~

      Hi Vierotchka, I hope this answers your question about the US Department of Justice moving forward using the frame work of the "Espionage Act of 1917" as, the same legal framework to try and railroad Julian Assange.

      What ever the out come may be in this action by The US Department of Justice. It is plain to see that there is a strong intent and will inside our government to use this Act as the framework to crush Wikileaks & Julian Assange.
      -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      By Michael Calderone /December 13, 2010

      U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has already authorized an investigation of WikiLeaks, with the Washington Post reporting that Assange could be tried under the Espionage Act of 1917. Several U.S. political leaders—such as Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)—have argued for just such a proceeding. And this Thursday, the House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on "the Espionage Act and the legal and constitutional issues raised by WikiLeaks." It looks like there's finally bipartisan consensus in Washington, with everyone from the Obama White House to Republican congressional leaders condemning the Australian hacker who serves as the public face of WikiLeaks.

      Still, Lieberman argues that Assange should be indicted for spying and has left open the possibility that news organizations could also be tried. Lieberman, through a spokeswoman, praised companies such as Amazon, PayPal and Visa for severing ties with WikiLeaks, saying they "have done the right thing and have acted as good corporate citizens." But Lieberman clearly doesn't feel the same way about some in the press.

      "The news organizations that have reprinted the State Department cables have not been good citizens, but whether to prosecute news organizations is a difficult question that should be taken up and decided by Justice Department officials," Lieberman said in a statement. "For the future, members of Congress should engage in a discussion about whether to change the law, within the limits of the First Amendment, to more precisely address media disclosure of secret documents."

      Feinstein, in a statement, harshly criticized WikiLeaks as she did in her Wall Street Journal op-ed last week. However, Feinstein made a distinction between Assange's group and the Times.

      "WikiLeaks operates like a proliferator and an enabler of illegal activity," Feinstein said. "The New York Times considers its responsibility as journalists, including consulting with government and redacting information; their mission is to inform our democracy without recklessly and arbitrarily putting our national security at risk. Julian Assange is on-record as harboring intent to harm the U.S. government, with disregard for the consequences—both to the government and to innocent people. The New York Times does not have this bad intent."

      FOR THE FULL ARTICLE:
      http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thecutline/20101213/ts_yblog_thecutline/if-assange...

      -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

      Side Note: ( "Australian hacker" ) ??? Wikileaks only function is to provide a platform for"Whistle Blowers" to deposit files to expose Corruption and Wrong-doing... and to then publish that contributed information with other news organizations and the public.
      Neither Wikileaks or, Julian Assange commited a crime or criminal act or, attempted in any way to: Steal, Hack or, Cyber Attack anyone. The term ( "Australian hacker" ) is yet another attempt to discredit Mr. Assange make him appear as the criminal.

      [END POST]

    • 1 year ago
  • of10rot10
  • DogBoy
    • +4
      DogBoy  

    • That's a good example of a worn out tired law made way before I was born by people I am sure I do not philosophically agree with, based on values that are clearly not mine. They ought to kill those old tired worn out laws like that before they hurt someone again.
      Julian Assage's information realistically cannot threaten our national security on any real scale. It's always about revenge.

    • 1 year ago
  • Dejan_Croatia
  • gerardange
    • +7
      gerardange  
    • Image

    • WHAT WE ARE WITNESSING... should be an example to everyone... How an organization like http://www.wikileaks.ch/ and others like, http://www.cryptome.org/. Whose only function is to provide a platform for"Whistle Blowers" to expose Corruption and Wrong-doing... Can be systematically targeted (by the accused), and then slandered, and attacked, as = The Enemy.

      The real question we should be asking is: " THE ENEMY OF WHOME? "

      THE ENEMY OF: Corporations that have taken over our government systems... that now conspire against their own people. Of Corporations, like Monsanto who conspire to hide from all of us the content and ingredients of genetically modified food that we now are "all forced to eat."

      Corporations like; MORGAN STANLEY, HALLIBURTON, BANK OF AMERICA and others... whose leaders continue to live like Royalty on billions of profits taken from all our dollars and, even more Billions from self-awarded "Personal Bailout Bonuses" totaling over $144 Billion dollars in 2010... All, at the same time they continued to foreclose on ALL our homes forcing "Honest hard working families on to the streets!"

      And.... WIKILEAKS IS OUR ENEMY ???? Really?

      Sorry, I DON'T THINK SO ! Organizations Like Wikileaks are doing what our mainstream Media & Press have ALL been $$ restricted from doing...

      Without a FREE AND OPEN PRESS AND MEDIA = WE HAVE NO FREEDOM... WE HAVE ONLY FASCISM.

      We, ALL MUST DEMAND MORE FROM OUR GOVERNMENT!

      (1) DEMAND...TRANSPARENCY not, SECRECY.
      ~ WE Need To Expose Corruption... NOT HIDE IT - !

      (2) In a True Democracy: All it's Citizens (All of us) are the 4th branch of our Government. We ALL... NEED TO FULLY EXERCISE THAT 4th BRANCH!
      ~ We ALL... have a responsibility and a directive to exercise that power and voice that we hold.

      (3) DEMAND... Personal Responsibility and Accountability: From our Government, Our Corporations, and individual People who commit crime.
      ~ THAT REQUIRES what is missing today... A FAIR JUDICIAL SYSTEM... WE ALL NEED TO DEMAND: That the Bad Apples need to be removed and fully prosecuted... in order to restore our Democracy.

      IN CLOSING:

      Without these { three pillars } a True Democracy cannot survive.

      "WE CAN"... DO BETTER THAN WHAT WE HAVE TODAY...

      "WE MUST DEMAND".., Personal Responsibility, Accountability and, Transparency of Government.

      THESE ARE HISTORIC TIMES... WE MUST DO HISTORIC THINGS...

      Wikileaks is only the alarm bell that is pointing a finger at Crime & Corruption.

      We all need to not be fooled... by the guilty parties still trying to continue to conceal their corruption and misdeeds.... because they are Corrupt.

      [ FiIRST WE NEED ] " ALL THE TRUTH"

      Then we need to speak openly and freely about the future...

      [ TRUTH ] is courageous...

      [ THE ACT ] OF DEMANDING THE TRUTH... IS COURAGEOUS...

      [ Be ] courageous...

      [ ACT ] courageous...

      REMEMBER... [ WE ] are all living in historic times...

      AND... [ WE ALL ] need to do historic things.

      ~

    • 1 year ago
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