Hard to call this a true victory for press freedom, given the judge's disregard for journalists' rights in the ruling. But it's a huge sigh of relief. If the US can't prosecute Assange, it means there won't precedent criminalizing newsgathering. And that's a very good thing.
there won't be* precedent
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I get it, people hate Assange. Criticize him all you want!
But please also acknowledge every single major press freedom group in the US: the criminal case against him is INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS for reporters—even if you don’t think Assange is a journalist! freedom.press/news/press-fre…
Here’s Bruce Brown—@rcfp exec. director—writing that the Assange case is "the first time in American history that the US gov't has sought to prosecute the act of publishing state secrets, something that national security reporters do with some regularity" cjr.org/opinion/assang…
I wrote for @genmag at @medium: The Trump whistleblower case shows why leaks are vital for democracy.
The whistleblower himself didn't leak classified info, but others did—pushing the story further every day until it became the biggest in the country. gen.medium.com/trumps-ukraine…
@GENmag@Medium Classified leaks published by news orgs forced Dems to move on impeachment, forced Trump to release the call, forced the DNI to submit to Congress, and forced the complaint itself to be declassified.
Without leaks, it's possible this story would have been buried and forgotten.
@GENmag@Medium The brave person or people who leaked the contents of the whistleblower complaint before it was declassified broke the same law @Snowden did. The DOJ could prosecute them.
This is CRAZY. Journalists were inadvertently given a list of police misconduct reports via a public records request. The California AG is now saying the journalists are breaking the law by merely *possessing* the documents and threatened legal action. eastbaytimes.com/2019/02/26/cal…
When I first read the article, I thought it must have been overstating things. But it's not -- read the full, threatening letter the California AG's office sent the journalists: scribd.com/document/40050…
In a statement to @FreedomofPress today, California AG @XavierBecerra's office doubled down on their contention that the reporters here are breaking the law by possessing documents about police criminal convictions. We'll have a story up about it in the morning.