Edward Snowden attorney: ‘Pick your misdemeanor’

Ben Wizner an attorney for NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, spoke in Nashville on Saturday about the impact of government surveillance on free speech and democracy.(Photo: John Partipilo / The Tennessean)Buy Photo

Edward Snowden wants to return to the United States, an attorney for the NSA whistleblower told a Nashville crowd on Saturday, but it would have to be under considerably more lenientterms than thecrimes he would currently face.

Ben Wizner, an attorney for Snowden, framed those comments assimplyreading between the lines of past statements from Snowden. Wizner was speaking at an American Civil Liberties Union-sponsored event at the downtown Nashville Public Library called, Surveillance State: Can Democracy Survive?

Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor considered a hero by some and traitor by others, remains living in Russia more than two years after his release of documents to multiple media organizations revealed government programs that systematically collect data from private citizens in the name of national security.

Whats next for Edward Snowden? Wizner said. I will tell you what hes said. He would like to return to the United States. He doesnt like being across the world from his closest family members. Hes not going to come back and accept felony convictions and lose civil rights as a consequence of his act of conscience.

Hes not going to accept a sentence to be held up as a deterrent to future acts of whistleblowing, Wizner added. He has also said that hes not afraid of accepting some punishment. Hes never ruled out doing jail time. If you read between the lines of all those statements, maybe what hes saying to the government is, Pick your misdemeanor,but otherwise thats not a justice system,its a punishment system.'I do think the climate around his ultimate decision is changing.

Ben Wizner, right, an attorney for NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, answers questions during a forum with ACLU of Tennessee Executive Director Hedy Weinberg at the downtown Nashville Public Library.(Photo: John Partipilo / The Tennessean)

Wizner, director of the ACLUs Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, started working at the ACLU one month before 9/11. Since then, hes focused much of his legal work on government intelligence and terrorism.

Under the Espionage Act, Wizner said that the trial Snowden would get would be an empty exercise if he did choose to come home because Snowden already identified himself as the person who leaked the documents to journalists.

That is all the government needs to prove that trial, he said. And everything that he might want to say in his own defense is not only irrelevant under the Espionage Act, its inadmissible under the Espionage Act.

Wizners Nashville appearance was kicked off Saturday with a viewing of "Citizenfour," a documentary film that details the meetings between Snowden and reporters Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras leading up to Snowdens leak of documents. Wizner, who was introduced Saturday by ACLU of Tennessee Executive Director Hedy Weinberg, spoke for about 25 minutes before taking questions from those in attendance.

In his remarks, Wizner argued that the oversight of government intelligence has improved in the two-plus years since Snowden took actions to expose the scope of government surveillance. Wizner defended his thesis by pointing to a recent court decision, congressional action this summer and new attitudes among both media and technology companies. He cited:

All of the entities in our society that are set up to do oversight over the executive branch and the intelligence community have been strengthened in the last two and a half years, Wizner said.Correspondingly, the intelligence community, which has been unchecked for so long, and certainly since 9/11, has been constrained more in the last two and a half years than perhaps in a whole generation.

Moving forward, he said he's encouraged that the government surveillance issue has not turned partisan.

For the most part, politically, this is not playing out as a partisan issue, he said. The fact that its not played out as a partisan issue makes it more possible for us to actually get victories.

Reach Joey Garrison at 615-259-8236 and on Twitter @joeygarrison.

Ben Wizner, an attorney for NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, waits to be introduced at the downtown Nashville Public Library as Wayne Neal Remmy and dog OrEo look on.(Photo: John Partipilo / The Tennessean)

Read or Share this story: http://tnne.ws/1ROWUbS

See more here:
Edward Snowden attorney: 'Pick your misdemeanor'