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AIPAC Case: First Amendment Issues Raised About Espionage Act

(Washington Post) Walter Pincus - The federal judge overseeing prosecution of two former lobbyists charged with receiving and transmitting national defense information under the 1917 Espionage Act gave the government until Friday to respond to defense claims that the statute is unconstitutionally vague and overbroad and may violate the First Amendment. U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III ordered the government to provide the additional support for the charges filed last August against Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman, former lobbyists for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). At a hearing on the defendants' motion to dismiss the indictments, Ellis directed a series of questions to Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin DiGregory expressing concern that the government had not dealt with constitutional issues raised by the defense. Floyd Abrams, a New York attorney who has represented the New York Times in a variety of high-profile cases, said in an interview last week that the AIPAC case "is the single most dangerous case for free speech and free press." Steven Aftergood, director of the Federation of American Scientists' Project on Government Secrecy, wrote on his website last week: "Anything other than a dismissal of the charges would mark a dramatic shift in national security law and a significant reduction in First Amendment protections."
2006-04-04 00:00:00
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