The plea deal Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has reached with prosecutors is bad for American press freedoms.
Under the deal, he is expected to walk free after spending more than five years in British custody, most of which were spent fighting extradition to the United States.
The result is an ambiguous end to a legal saga that has jeopardized the ability of journalists to report on military, intelligence or diplomatic information that officials deem secret.
Enshrined in the First Amendment, the role of a free press in bringing to light information beyond what those in power approve for release is a foundational principle of American self-government.
This new precedent will send a threatening message to national security journalists, who may be chilled in how aggressively they do their jobs because they will see a greater risk of prosecution.
Persons:
Julian Assange
Organizations:
WikiLeaks
Locations:
United States