Dershowitz: Assange has a new legal adviserONLY ON THE BLOG: Answering today's five OFF-SET questions is Alan M. Dershowitz, who has been called "the nation's most peripatetic civil liberties lawyer" and one of its "most distinguished defenders of individual rights."  He is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. Dershowitz, a graduate of Brooklyn College and Yale Law School, he joined the Harvard Law School faculty at age 25 after clerking for Judge David Bazelon and Justice Arthur Goldberg. His newest and third novel is "The Trials of Zion." EXCLUSIVE: Dershowitz is scheduled to appear on Parker Spitzer on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2011. As an adviser to Julian Assange’s defense team, what will you be doing? I will be focusing on First and Fourth Amendment issues, freedom of press and freedom of association and limitations on the government’s power to intrude on these rights. I will also be interested in helping to develop the law involving the new electronic media. Have you ever met Assange? We have spoken on the phone extensively. There are those who say he and WikiLeaks may have threatened national security. (Your reaction?) The First Amendment protects even speech that may be seen as dangerous or threatening by some. I was involved in the Pentagon Papers case in which the same claims were made. It turned out that the release of the Pentagon Papers was good for America in the end. But whenever there are doubts, we ought to resolve them in favor of freedom. There is a hearing today in Virginia, where a federal judge will decide whether or not the US Department of Justice can legally force the website Twitter to hand over private information connected to Wikileaks, and if the legal documents connected to the case should be made public. Do you think the US has the right to those tweets? I do not. I think they have to follow the Constitution and show probable cause or at least a reasonable basis. They can’t just seek them. It endangers the associational rights of those who tweet and those who follow WikiLeaks. And there are Supreme Court decisions that go back a long time. So, as an advisor, how will you communicate with Assange moving forward? We have talked on the phone, and have emailed and we will meet in person in the appropriate time—I will travel to England as the situation warrants it. The issues are fascinating and important and he seems like a very multi-dimensional person. I look forward to getting to know him better and forming a judgment based on personal observations. But these are the cutting edge issues of 21st century communication. BLOG EXTRA: Check out our interview with Dershowitz from Oct. 15, 2010, on his advocacy for torture warrants: |
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I wonder why I never hear about the $110,000 limit on Social Security? People stop paying in after they reach
$110,000 in income. Remove that limit.
Only if there's no lower limit either.
There is no lower limit now.
yeah what does that mean, there is no floor? Democrats want to increase the limit, republicans won't let them. Unfortunately, for our nation the pragmatist in the republican party are referred to as RINOs by what has become the strength of the party. It is sad, and this party's influence is destroying us. It was Reagan that legitimized running a massive national debt, Reagan's base got Bush Sr pushed out of office for raising taxes in an effort to balance the budget, then they supported Bush Jr and rewarded him with a second term for cutting taxes and setting unprecendented budget deficits. Isn't it crazy that the party blaming Obama is also the party whose president broke his own budget deficit record 5 times while serving 8 years and spent wildly while the economy was growing. Many of the republicans in the congress and the senate today supported Bush's ridiculous spending efforts.
Because you never made that much money. It was 90K only a couple of years ago.
What in the world does that have to do with anything? Me, I like that limit - it means less carrying the porkers living on government handouts.
I think you're confused, ed. First, you're commenting on an article about Wikileaks and Julian Assange, not social security. Second, there's a limit to how much social security pays out when you retire, so there should be a corresponding limit to how much you have to pay in.
NIcely put, nuje.
Ed I'm guessing you make less. I am a conservative but I believe it should stop at that level but if you have income of 110,000 after you retire you should not get SS. But thats me.
The goverment does not need to persecute Assange. He is a self-declared enemy of the US, and should be treated as the enemy combatant.
Real convenient to brand anyone that the government of the US does not like an enemy combatant. Just like Iran, they can throw anyone in prison that causes an inconvenience to the secrecy or government operations.
The U.S. government is the U.S.'s own enemy.
You are not playing with a full deck. I shot at the enemy in Korea and they shot back, fair enough! You would kill someone because of their opinions???
Bom trabalho.Para mim e9 um caso muito cmiclopado e dificil de analisar, ate9 de deglutir. A concluse3o a que desde logo cheguei e9 de facto ele que se cuide -, mas ne3o consigo pensar que e9 inocente ou que vai ser vitima. Dava-lhe um vinte pele ousadia e capacidade mas se quisesse valore1-lo em responsabilidade quer como cidade3o do mundo, quer como jornalista, dar-lhe-ia nota negativa.Podia ate9 entreter-se a manipular aquilo que sabe como alie1s tudo o que e9 mundo politico e sobretudo na esfera diplome1tica faz. O vulgar cidade3o ficare1 como eu aterrorizado e o seu contributo para o bem estar da humanidade e do equilibrio mundial ne3o tere1 sido grande coisa.Acho estranha e descabelada a histf3ria das violae7f5es. Nessas ninguem acreditare1e a imagem que fica e9 a de pretexto ou como ele diz preseguie7e3o. Foi desajeitado ser acusado agora ; se de facto fez o que lhe apontam devia ter sido apanhado com outra oportunidade.Misturar os factos resulta em confuse3o, se calhar pretendida.Enfim, boa nota para a sua ane1lise ao facto e seus envolvimentos, muito boa como e9 he1bito.
I totally agree w/ Ed Moore's comment. The time arrived several years ago for that limit to be removed or minimally greatly expanded!
"But whenever there’s a doubts, we ought to resolve them in favor of freedom."
.... so long as there's a country left, to have that freedom in ...
If preserving "freedom" requires shutting people up, then that so-called "freedom" isn't worth preserving.
"The First Amendment protects even speech that may be seen as dangerous or threatening by some. I was involved in the Pentagon Papers case in which the same claims were made. It turned out that the release of the Pentagon Papers was good for America in the end. But whenever there’s a doubts, we ought to resolve them in favor of freedom."
Such a useful peri-pathetic tool of a fool. The Pentagon Papers were about a historical analysis of various military engagements. What Assange is doing is threatening lives NOW. Apples on the one hand, oranges on the other. Even a Harvard tool ought to be able to figure that out.
No, WE are doing things to threaten American lives and trying to hide it.
You can't handle the truth, Danny.
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I think wikileaks is great! It's no more a threat to our national security than the reign of George W. Bush was. The powers that be want to silence this site before it can really shed some light on just how crooked these billionaires and governments are.
hey, thanks for the relevant contribution to the article, ed moore
If Dershowitz is involved this proves once and for all that the Zionists were behind the leaks. It was obvious. Only Israel came out looking golden from the leaks.
Isreal is not coming out looking too good either dude follow the news.
Dershowitz is a super-attorney who specializes in 1)criminal defense and 2)free speech. That's why he's defending Assange; basically it's his job.
Why doesnt the goverment just get someone to leak the twitter accounts and then it will just be freedom of press or wait isnt it already? How do you draw the line on an issue only when it works to your advantage? Sounds like a politian to me
You probably also never hear that pastors have the option of opting not to pay in to SS. How come those with a corporate pension don't have the same option?
"Oh yeah
You probably also never hear that pastors have the option of opting not to pay in to SS. How come those with a corporate pension don't have the same option?"
Communities that take care of their own don't pay into SS. Amish don't either.
The Amish don't pay into SS, but what "communities that take care of their own" don't, besides them? In addition to the issue of taking care of their own, for the Amish is involves separation of church and state.
The Amish don't, but what other "communities that take care of their own" don't pay into SS? In addition to the taking care of their own issue, for the Amish it was an issue of separation of church and state.
I am delighted that such a brilliant and dedicated attorney, as Alan M. Dershowitz, will be advising Julian Assange. I admire Julian Assange for his courage and commitment to publishing the truth.
Betty: If Dershowitz is dedicated to anything it is to Israel, which he promotes with a long list of lies. On no issue would I ever be able to trust such a person. – George Beres
Good for America! Alas, the politically-correct police state doesn't care about what's good for America – only about what's good for those in power.
Why would our rights apply to him
Live is filled with situations that require secure and private communications. Exchanges with a spouse, negotiations, discussions with lawyers, boss and employee, etc. Simply stated, how can we conduct our personal lives, business, or governement if someone has the "freedom" to capture and expose it all to the eyes of the world?
Communications paid for with taxpayer money and on taxpayer time is the taxpayer's business. Furthermore, there is such a thing as the Freedom of Information Act.
Your personal lives are personal and can't be released as freely as you are making it sound. Business is a gray area because you are now responsable to others, if you have cheated your customers and it is found out then you do not have the same right to privacy. Similarly we are all clients of our government (by paying taxes) that means unless it is an immediate threat to the citizens privacy rules do not apply.
Treason is still a crime in this country and since Assenge is not a U.S. citizen he's an enemy combatant. As a person of Jewish heritage I'm embarrassed that Dershowitz would try to protect someone who would try to harm our country.
He has nothing against our country. Just the government that rules it, and tries to push around the rest of the globe.
Doug, you undo your argument with your own first sentence. Assange is not trying to overthrow our government, and even if he were, as you said yourself, he is not a US citizen. He could not be charged with treason.
Convenient buzz words. People can't say anything anymore without being accused of "treason" or labeled as "enemy combatant." Paranoia reigns supreme. No wonder we have so many "enemies."
You have to be a citizen to commit treason. Do you not get that? Without treason, there is no crime.
I guess he is trying to avoid the Christmas rush? Afterall, Assange has not even been charged at this point.
Why is this fraud and lier who plagiarized his entire book coming to defend Asange when all Dershowitz is know for is calling all critics of Israel anti Semitic
How dare the US accuse me and subpoena my personal details because I follow the news on Twitter?
Any democratic government that actively suppresses free speech by targeting the listeners in court has revoked their mandate to govern a democratic nation.
This guy is a tool and I hope he gets his butt handed to him...
Wikileaks should decline help from this individual. Torture warrants? What is this? Normalizing torture? Palestinians incite violence? Duh, they are illegally occupied. And him joining Wikileaks at this particular point in time surely earns him a lot of attention for the promotion of what seems to be a "super-exciting" book.
Did you watch the video?
The warrant was supposed to be issued when it would be to save the lives of people in imminent danger (like a bomb) and then only as a last resort. The torture would be conducted only after a judge was given proof that the person had information but was unwilling to offer it.
We Tip Our Hats to you Mr. Allan Dershowitz. You are the closest thing to a true human. Not always correct, but we love your views. Thank you.
Freedom of speech means just that! Don't shoot the messenger but the guy who stole it or breached security by leaking it
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Mr Spitzer the art of interview includes letting the other person talk. Its your interviewee we're interested in not your interruptions.
dershowitz is a weasel.wiki leaks shouldnt trust him.
One slime ball representing another slime ball.
Because he is not an American citizen, why does he get our rights? Oh, yeah, he doesnt!!! And while I fully understand that our government needs to disclose its actions with the American public, if that disclosure could lead to loss of lives, it becomes more than a political issue. There are things that Wikileaks published that could cause direct harm to come to American citizens, who do have our rights and who do need the government to protect them. If it can be found that by publishing the confidential papers Assuage caused loss of life he should be tried internationally for murder.
Wow....this is truly Assange's lucky day...now he has a smart Harvard lawyer helping him....how can he possibly get better support than that ?
Assange is doomed now. Can anyone recall the last time this media glutton actually won a case?
interesting comments for and against. As an outsider miles away from the continent that you folks discuss issues on I must admit that the American govt. per se should not be worried if they have done no wrong in dealing with events that leave an impact in the lives of millions across the globe. I believe the drive to censor a whistle blower or an exposer is against the very tenets of free expression in a democracy. And if america wishes to retain that image of being the self appointed guardian of democracy in the world we live in, it has to set an example not by stifling dissent but by supporting and coming clean of the past events. That would be a step in the right direction so that politicians of the future do not take things for granted and get away but remain accountable for each and every act they were entrusted with by a people who believed in their ability to safeguard a country.
Any news about A defector's strange disappearance?