![]() ![]() Although the evidentiary requirements may not have been so difficult in the past, the growing integration of computers and the continual decline in interpersonal interactions within modern society have made satisfying the witness requirement considerably more difficult. Article III, Section 3 of the US Constitution defines treason as “levying War against, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.” Section 3 also states that a treason conviction requires either the testimony of two witnesses or confession by the accused in open court. Black’s Law Dictionary defines the word traitor as “a person who commits treason against his or her country.” The crime of treason has the distinction of being the only criminal offense defined within the US Constitution. While it would be easy to dismiss Boehner’s remark as a misnomer, a more informative path would be to ask in a world of NSA leakers and domestic terrorists, why the crime of treason is not invoked more often. Instead, it is better to call Snowden what he is he is a fugitive from justice, charged with violating the Espionage Act of 1917. Similarly, calling an unconvicted man a traitor does great violence to the presumption of innocence and militates against the intent of the founders of the US Constitution. Rushing to label someone a hero does a great injustice to those whose actions have stood the test of time beyond the fleeting opinions of the instant. Wikileaks’ Julian Assange and some members of the press have called him a hero. Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) and others have called him a traitor. JURIST Guest Columnist Brice Biggins, George Mason University School of Law Class of 2014, discusses the rarity of treason charges in the US and argues that Edward Snowden should be charged with violating the Espionage Act of 1917…Īfter leaking the existence of the National Security Agency’s (NSA) PRISM program and the collection of communications metadata through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, Edward Snowden has been called many things. ![]()
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