Finally, I have an Opinion

Alert the media!

Seriously, I have not really had an opinion on the Judith Miller case but, if true, this forces my hand. Surprisingly I come out against the government. Reason Magazine has the scoop.


Testimonial privileges require a court to weigh the government's evidence as to why they need her testimony. Yet Judith Miller was tried, convicted and sentenced to prison based exclusively upon written evidence from witnesses whose identities and testimony were kept secret from her and her lawyers. They were given no opportunity to defend her against, question, or rebut the secret evidence the courts relied upon exclusively in convicting her. Indeed, a full eight pages of the D.C. Court of Appeals decision discussing and analyzing this secret evidence was redacted from the published opinion.

Judith Miler is unique, the first American ever to be sent to jail based on facts she never saw and a federal appellate opinion she was not permitted to read. She won't be the last. Make no mistake: This will happen again and again whenever a case involves "national security,""the war on terror," or any combination thereof. This is too big a weapon for the executive branch to ignore, especially since it was fashioned by the most prestigious of the U.S. Courts of Appeals and approved by the Supreme Court. Let's face it. If they can do it to a reporter for The New York Times, they sure as hell can do it to anyone else.

Okay, I now think Judith Miller should go free. Any trial that involves secret witnesses isn't actually a trial.

I'm starting to get the sense that, generations from now, people will be looking at our current governement in the same way we now look at the Italian governement of the 30's and 40's. A warning which is best heeded sooner rather than later.