-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- In the ÒWhy We Need an Anonymous Whistleblower GroupÓ department, I quote the last few paragraphs of a story in todayÕs paper (ÒJustices to Rule on ÔPretty WomanÕ Parody,Ó but thatÕs not what this is about...) The Washington Post, page A4, Thursday, 30 March 1993, reproduced without permission: Separately yesterday, the justices refused to hear an appeal by two former defense contractors who were convicted in 1991 of illegally obtaining Pentagon information in the fraud scandal known as ÒOperation Ill Wind.Ó Thomas D. McAusland and Christopher M. Pafort, former executives at Litton Data Systems, which was seeking Navy contracts, were prosecuted under federal statutes that bar theft of government property. In their appeal, they argued that government information is not ÒpropertyÓ and that no statute or published regulation actually barred dissemination of the information. Their lawyers said an appeals court ruling in the case, _McAusland v. U.S._, could make any leak of government information, even to the press, the basis for criminal liability. [The defendants are apparently typical sleazy contractors who managed to get some inside information on a contract they were pursuing. Obtaining such information was made a crime _after_ they got the information, so the government charged them with the Òtheft of government propertyÓ crime -JGT] And, from an editorial in the Post (Ò. . . Custom and CrimeÓ), page A20: It is not necessary to make a judgment on the defendantsÕ conduct to be appalled by the use of the theft statute to prosecute them. There should be a presumption that government information belongs to the people unless specifically protected by law, as national security data have been for some time and as contracting information now is. The Washington Post joined other media organizations in filing a brief in this case to make exactly that point. The high courtÕs failure to review this case leaves in place a ruling that would make it possible to prosecute journalists who receive tips from government sources about corruption or public advocacy groups that listen to whistleblowersÕ charges about waste and inefficiency. It is not enough to say, as the government does, that this probably wonÕt happen. The court should have reversed these convictions to make clear that it cannot happen. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.2 iQCVAgUBK7iTLYwu6QoBw6rbAQHcMgP+N0g3KbTfy5KOlKoylYMg+ZFZrw+Rf4T7 pERTml6QQ4ZYkerLXZD24QGqJHNv/eNeHhwQmTvm4b8mQIY0M1fdecOZNsfKV9GJ sRKs2gu0Jgl/PW51gDkbZaIvTnz1bJF5gbvGylcZHOiMwva+p5ioxYOMhey79bOk 15KzBlhTQ94= =G3NJ -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- Joe Thomas <jthomas@access.digex.com> PGP key available by request or by finger. PGP key fingerprint: 1E E1 B8 6E 49 67 C4 19 8B F1 E4 9D F0 6D 68 4B