The USA's Espionage Act of 1917
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Found this of tidder
So a little backstory on the Espionage Act and how it works.
Official secrecy in the United States is remarkably recent. There were basically no laws about it until the 20th century. There were some military regulations as to what to do if someone was spying (who was in the military), but that was basically it. You had lots of informal secrecy, but very few laws about it — very few ways in which the government could say, "ah, I consider this information to be secret, and if you violate that understanding, I can punish you." Prior to the Espionage Act, secrecy was largely what I call "contractual": you signed a piece of paper that said, "I agree to keep this secret, and if I fail, you can do stuff to me," which is very different from a "compulsory" secrecy regime where if you give away something that is considered secret, you can go to jail, whether you agreed to keep it secret or not.
World War I changed this. Why? Fears of German spies, fears of local insurrection, and new fears about the role of technical information in war. Secrets in war prior to WWI were more along the lines of "how many troops are here and how many of them are going to be somewhere else in three days" and things like that ("troop movements"). Secrecy in war from WWI forward had that but introduced new and important categories like "what kind of super cool new weapons am I working on" and "what kind of information have I intercepted about the enemy." (The submarine was the "wonder weapon" of WWI and the cause of a lot of American fears.)
OK, so they passed the Espionage Act right at the end of it. What it says is basically that if the US government deems a class of information "defense information," they can punish you if you do a variety of things with it. The punishments go up depending on your intentions — if you're deliberately trying to hurt the US or help its enemies, the punishments are higher than if you, say, accidentally give it away or give it away with really good intentions.
The "defense information" bit means that the President can, through Executive Orders, define the requirements for what is a secret and what is not. Typically this only applies to information generated by the government itself — you can't, under the Espionage Act, classify "public" information, or information created by a private source. (There are only a few exceptions to this in US law; one of them is the patent secrecy law that was passed at the same time as the Espionage Act — again with the technical fears — the other is the later Atomic Energy Act.)
What the Espionage Act has evolved into is general legal "teeth" behind a system of regulating American defense-relevant information. The guidelines on how the information needs to be handled is defined by the aforementioned Executive Orders (every President issues a new one; Obama's was Executive Order 13526[1] ). The Espionage Act is more or less the way to enforce these Executive Orders and gives them Congressional and legal sanction; it is what gives the "SECRET" stamps any legal meaning.
And more:
The espionage act was mainly passed to keep people from transferring materials/information to the enemy or interfering with military operations. Since Snowden did effectively transfer classified information to an enemy he can be charged under this act.
The patriot act primarily expanded how the government could obtain information inside and outside of the US. It also expanded the definition of terrorism and increased the ability of the government to prosecute terrorism. However, what Snowden did can not really be considered terrorism even under this expanded definition so he could not be charged under the patriot act.
The US has extradition treaties with about half the countries in the world[1] . Hong Kong and Ecuador being among them. But without Snowden being charged with anything the extradition treaties would not come into effect. So yes Snowden being charged has increased the US reach but it was not the only reason for him to be charged the way he was or when he was.
And more:
Congrats you learned something new for a change.
So a little backstory on the Espionage Act and how it works.
Official secrecy in the United States is remarkably recent. There were basically no laws about it until the 20th century. There were some military regulations as to what to do if someone was spying (who was in the military), but that was basically it. You had lots of informal secrecy, but very few laws about it — very few ways in which the government could say, "ah, I consider this information to be secret, and if you violate that understanding, I can punish you." Prior to the Espionage Act, secrecy was largely what I call "contractual": you signed a piece of paper that said, "I agree to keep this secret, and if I fail, you can do stuff to me," which is very different from a "compulsory" secrecy regime where if you give away something that is considered secret, you can go to jail, whether you agreed to keep it secret or not.
World War I changed this. Why? Fears of German spies, fears of local insurrection, and new fears about the role of technical information in war. Secrets in war prior to WWI were more along the lines of "how many troops are here and how many of them are going to be somewhere else in three days" and things like that ("troop movements"). Secrecy in war from WWI forward had that but introduced new and important categories like "what kind of super cool new weapons am I working on" and "what kind of information have I intercepted about the enemy." (The submarine was the "wonder weapon" of WWI and the cause of a lot of American fears.)
OK, so they passed the Espionage Act right at the end of it. What it says is basically that if the US government deems a class of information "defense information," they can punish you if you do a variety of things with it. The punishments go up depending on your intentions — if you're deliberately trying to hurt the US or help its enemies, the punishments are higher than if you, say, accidentally give it away or give it away with really good intentions.
The "defense information" bit means that the President can, through Executive Orders, define the requirements for what is a secret and what is not. Typically this only applies to information generated by the government itself — you can't, under the Espionage Act, classify "public" information, or information created by a private source. (There are only a few exceptions to this in US law; one of them is the patent secrecy law that was passed at the same time as the Espionage Act — again with the technical fears — the other is the later Atomic Energy Act.)
What the Espionage Act has evolved into is general legal "teeth" behind a system of regulating American defense-relevant information. The guidelines on how the information needs to be handled is defined by the aforementioned Executive Orders (every President issues a new one; Obama's was Executive Order 13526[1] ). The Espionage Act is more or less the way to enforce these Executive Orders and gives them Congressional and legal sanction; it is what gives the "SECRET" stamps any legal meaning.
And more:
The espionage act was mainly passed to keep people from transferring materials/information to the enemy or interfering with military operations. Since Snowden did effectively transfer classified information to an enemy he can be charged under this act.
The patriot act primarily expanded how the government could obtain information inside and outside of the US. It also expanded the definition of terrorism and increased the ability of the government to prosecute terrorism. However, what Snowden did can not really be considered terrorism even under this expanded definition so he could not be charged under the patriot act.
The US has extradition treaties with about half the countries in the world[1] . Hong Kong and Ecuador being among them. But without Snowden being charged with anything the extradition treaties would not come into effect. So yes Snowden being charged has increased the US reach but it was not the only reason for him to be charged the way he was or when he was.
And more:
Congress passed, and Wilson signed, in June of 1917, the Espionage Act. From its title one would suppose it was an act against spying. However, it had a clause that provided penalties up to twenty years in prison for "Whoever, when the United States is at war, shall willfully cause or attempt to cause insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty in the military or naval forces of the United States, or shall willfully obstruct the recruiting or enlistment service of the U.S. .. ." Unless one had a theory about the nature of governments, it was not clear how the Espionage Act would be used. It even had a clause that said "nothing in this section shall be construed to limit or restrict . . . any discussion, comment, or criticism of the acts or policies of the Government. .. ." But its double- talk concealed a singleness of purpose. The Espionage Act was used to imprison Americans who spoke or wrote against the war.
Two months after the law passed, a Socialist named Charles Schenck was arrested in Philadelphia for printing and distributing fifteen thousand leaflets that denounced the draft law and the war. The leaflet recited the Thirteenth Amendment provision against "involuntary servitude" and said the Conscription Act violated this. Conscription, it said, was "a monstrous deed against humanity in the interests of the financiers of Wall Street." And: "Do not submit to intimidation."
Schenck was indicted, tried, found guilty, and sentenced to six months in jail for violating the Espionage Act. (it turned out to be one of the shortest sentences given in such cases.)
..
Two months after the law passed, a Socialist named Charles Schenck was arrested in Philadelphia for printing and distributing fifteen thousand leaflets that denounced the draft law and the war. The leaflet recited the Thirteenth Amendment provision against "involuntary servitude" and said the Conscription Act violated this. Conscription, it said, was "a monstrous deed against humanity in the interests of the financiers of Wall Street." And: "Do not submit to intimidation."
Schenck was indicted, tried, found guilty, and sentenced to six months in jail for violating the Espionage Act. (it turned out to be one of the shortest sentences given in such cases.)
In a small town in South Dakota, a farmer and socialist named Fred Fairchild, during an argument about the war, said, according to his accusers: "If I were of conscription age and had no dependents and were drafted, I would refuse to serve. They could shoot me, but they could not make me fight." He was tried under the Espionage Act, sentenced to a year and a day at Leavenworth penitentiary. And so it went, multiplied two thousand times (the number of prosecutions under the Espionage Act).
http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/zinnwarhea14.html[1]Congrats you learned something new for a change.