Government Secrecy! TO: ACLU Action Network FR: Jared Feuer, Internet Organizer DT: August 29, 2001 Last year, with little debate and no public hearings, Congress adopted an intelligence authorization bill that contained a provision to criminalize all leaks of classified information. Although President Clinton vetoed the bill, this year's intelligence authorization bill may include the identical provision. If this provision is allowed to become law, it would essentially eliminate the check on government power that public scrutiny provides! To accomplish the crucial role of exposing government misdeeds, most major news outlets often base stories on classified information. A recent example of such a story is the government bungling of the Wen Ho Lee case. If this provision becomes law however, reporters that rely on leaks of classified information to expose government misconduct could be compelled by subpoena to reveal the source of the leak, or go to prison if they refuse. Current law already protects national security by prohibiting the disclosure of certain classified information that could cause serious harm, such as the disclosure of the names of covert agents. This was deemed enough to protect the national security even during the heyday of the Cold War. Take Action! The government should not be allowed to hide its mistakes, incompetence, political embarrassments, and even in some cases, criminal behavior behind a classified stamp. You can read more and send a FREE FAX from our action alert at: http://www.aclu.org/action/classified107.html ************************************************************************** Subscribe to Freematt's Alerts: Pro-Individual Rights Issues Send a blank message to: freematt@coil.com with the words subscribe FA on the subject line. List is private and moderated (7-30 messages per week) Matthew Gaylor, (614) 313-5722 ICQ: 106212065 Archived at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fa/ **************************************************************************