The Fourth Amendment Under the Microscope – Bikash Chatterjee

Few topics can polarize an audience as the question of freedom of the press and freedom of information. Whether it is the constitutionality of the Patriot Act or the latest act by Wikileaks founder Julian Assange few topics can illicit such an emotional response from society as the rights of society to keep secrets. Assange, founded Wikileaks in 2006 as a whistleblower website geared towards disseminating information about secret organizations, private and public which he believes goes against what he believes to be the high moral ground. Specifically Assange believes disseminating secret information is the most effective means to drive change. In his blog he wrote:” “the more secretive or unjust an organisation is, the more leaks induce fear and paranoia in its leadership and planning coterie…. Since unjust systems, by their nature induce opponents, and in many places barely have the upper hand, mass leaking leaves them exquisitely vulnerable to those who seek to replace them with more open forms of governance.” On January 19, 2011 the Churchill Club hosted an event comprised of thought leaders in the field to discuss the implications of Wikileaks. Entitled WikiLeaks: Why it Matters. Why It Doesn’t? the panel was moderated by Paul Jay, Senior Editor of the Real News Network. The Panel consisted of Daniel Elsberg, Former State and Defense Dept. Official prosecuted for releasing the Pentagon Papers,;Clay Shirky, Adjunct professor, Interactive telecommunications Program, NYU, ;Neville Roy Singham, Founder and Chairman of Thoughtworks,; Peter Thiel, Technology Entrepreneur and the man who helped launch pay[Pal and Facebook, ; and Johnathan Zittrain, Professor of Law and Computer Science at Harvard University.

The discussion was spirited debate with many of the panelists choosing diametrically opposing positions regarding the disclosure of the information and whether the act by Army Sergeant Bradley Manning was an act of heroism or terrorism. Several interesting points were raised during the discussion which begs further discussion. Could the disclosure of the data be considered an act of journalism and therefore befitting the rights of a shield law reserved for protecting journalistic sources? Could Bradley Manning be considered a hero, the first since Nathan Hale, who was willing to die to preserve what he considers to be the rights of liberty? Elsberg was quick to point out that the Pentagon papers, which he leaked to the New York Times, simply revealed that the Johnson administration had lied to the American people and Congress about key facts regarding Vietnam. It did not embarrass anyone the then current Nixon Administration.

The one immutable truth from the evening was that access to information in today’s electronic age blurs the lines of right and wrong more easily than it defines them. One point is for sure, we have not seen the last of these issues and how we debate and resolve them will have profound impact on the framework we call freedom in the future. Replay of the Churchill Club event can be seen on-line at their site