USA Calling For the Extradition of Snowden

Taco Cowboy writes "Edward Snowden, the leaker who gave us the evidence of US government spying on its people is under threat of being extradited back to the U.S. to face prosecution. Some people in Congress, including Republican Peter King (R-NY), are calling for his extradition from Hong Kong to face trial. From the article: 'A spokesman for the director of national intelligence, James Clapper, said Snowden's case had been referred to the justice department and US intelligence was assessing the damage caused by the disclosures. "Any person who has a security clearance knows that he or she has an obligation to protect classified information and abide by the law," the spokesman, Shawn Turner, said.'"

Comments

Meanwhile, Americans are asking for a pardon.

[__aaltlg1547]

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/pardon-edward-snowden/Dp03vGYD879 --- 8979 signed on in two days.
Also, over 4000 for repeal of the PATRIOT act so far and over 2000 for the impeachment of Roger Vinson, whose signature authorized some ridiculously broad data collection orders. And 11825 for the resignation of President Obama. I mention this last because people have been calling for his head for years and it's not clear what issue is the biggest factor in people calling for his resignation.

Re:More shocked that they hired contractors as FTE

[erroneus]

Contractor use is how they get around other aspects of US and [especially] Constitutional legal restrictions and limitations.

Problem with the military code, rules or laws? No problem -- hire contractors. Got a problem with accountability and being tracked or with requirements of reporting your activities? Just use contractors. Easy to blame and easy to fire.

Not shocking, but quite disgusting. We put these government controls into place to prevent all sorts of government abuse and they just route around it. And no one is called to the floor for these practices.

Re:Someone start a defense fund

[wytcld]

To be fair, this program is currently legal. I don't think it will pass Constitutional muster if it ever hit the courts, but that hasn't happened yet. The appropriate course of action would be to challenge this law in the courts rather than releasing classified data.

You're aware that the ACLU and others have repeatedly tried to bring this before the courts, and been shut down by the Obama's people claiming that, since the program is so secret, whoever is bringing suit can't prove that the program specifically harmed them, and so has no legal standing to even make the case before a court? The courts, by accepting the argument that no one has standing to challenge these practices, have avoided having to rule on the Constitutionality of it all.

Your "appropriate course of action" has been tried. It doesn't work, not because the courts rule these programs Constitutional, but because the courts accept Obama's argument that truly secret programs are beyond court review. If your view of the Constitution is that any law that infringes on our rights can be challenged in court, then you must accept that the courts, just as much as the administration, have found ways to slip outside the Constitution's bounds and responsibilities.

So the appropriate course of action, in your view, given this, is ... what?