Comment by hestipod | Hacker News Reader

Comment by hestipod | Hacker News Reader

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He was not wrong. So many people define right and wrong by some system of made up rules and laws, and if someone breaks those rules or laws, even for right, people still say "they should be held accountable" as if the rule and law matter more than anything. The bad guys don't follow those rules and laws and exposing them for that, even if it violates said rules and laws, is not "wrong". It's brave and moral and right. If I was on that jury he would get a "not guilty" or jury nullification from me because despite what rules and laws he may have technically violated the system was wrong, not him. I don't care about idealistic excuses like "he should have....." because those things don't work as history proves over and over again. There are times the ends justify the means. Life is not a series of black and white rules or rule violations. The only wrong part about all of this is that they were spying on everyone to begin with, lied about it, and that nothing has been done about it since everyone was made aware. They have done a fantastic job of convincing the masses Snowden is the REAL bad guy. Shameful. If anyone insists on a trial it should be of the USG for its nefarious activities. Not the little guy for exposing them.

There's this concept of punching up or down. The little guy shouldn't be punched down to - in conventional politically correct culture.

Mostly the legal system is not encouraged to be politically correct.

Mr. Snowden broke his oath and leaked confidential data. His defense is the greater good. That should prevent prosecution.

Mr. Clapper lied to Congress when he said "Not Wittingly."

Mrs. Clinton failed to safeguard confidential data.

Others have broken the law, and they are not prosecuted.

We should prosecute those who break the law. They should defend themselves accordingly.

The real solution to this mess is for Congress to pass a law that exposing illegal activities is allowed. Wait - they did! The whistleblower protections don't work. More corruption.

> His defense is the greater good. That should prevent prosecution.

Do you mean prevent conviction or are you taking the stance claiming "the greater good" means you shouldn't be tried?

I meant if he were tried, he should be found not guilty.

Separately, because what he did is prima facie for the greater good, he should not be tried.

A jury or pardon could conceivably provide the first, but the latter would require a movement away from the rule of law. Outside of a jury or prosecutor, who has claim to make the call that what he did was for the greater good?

The prosecutor is sufficient.

I agree with this opinion fully and I find it odd that the OP you replied to doesn’t call for the federal agencies that were conducting unconstitutional surveillance to be held accountable in court?

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