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From:I I b7C
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Sent: Wednesday. January 25, 2006 10:30 AM
To: 1... ........
Subject: JTA article
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FOCUS ON ISSUES
Sentence in F'ranklin case sends
chill through free-speech community
By Ron Kampeas
WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 (JTA) -Itwas surprising enough that the judge
quadrupled the prosecution's recommended sentence for Lawrence Franklin"
from three years to more than 12.
But the true bombshell at the sentencing of the former Pentagon analyst, who
is at the center of the case involving pro-Israel lobbyists and classified
iriforll}ation,~~awyers were shutting their briefcases last Friday.
That't\!Q~.. y:~..:'.QJ~triqr~ji~ge;l~.;I;IIiS;IIJ:toldJt)~
...cQ.urjr.o~mJn.Alexandria,
Va., th~ h!t ~.eJi~~~cl~ilialJs·ar~~j4st·~s:UapJe_Cl~g9Y~(mlJ~ntemp.loyees._7
~der laws goY~ro.ing Jh~..~ssemi!Wlg!l~9f.9J~~i.(LE!.d.J.rl£r!rl..sYg!)~ ...._
(:!'..!l~.§n.s wli~Jl~~~,~'l.~~QJ~9~!~~!i~~.d,~mo~~~J!l!!·i[lto unau~~~~~7
!'pbsse~~19Q ~(.q~~~!~~~ inf~r:":l~t,on, ~~st ~P.!9!..2~ the (awl Ellis.said.LT!i~9·
applies to acaCtemics, lawyers·"journ..alists, professors:w~atever~i
irwas difficult to assess wneth....er-Ellis'Was·thinking·out"loud·or was
pronouncing tiis judicial philosophy. The jUdge·earned a reputation as a
voluble off-the-cuff philosopher when he adjudicated the case of John ~Walker
Lindh, the "AmericanTaliban."
But if those are Ellis' jury instructions in April. when two former staffers of the
American Israel Public Affairs Committee go on trial, the implications could
have major consequenc.es - not just for Stev~ Rosen and Keith Weissman,
but for how American~ consider national security questions.
Defense lawyers for Rosen and Weissman have joined a free speech
watchdog in casting the case as a major First Amendment battle.,
liThe implications of this prosecution to news gatherers and others who work
in First Am~ndment cas~s cannot be overstated," lawyers for the former
AIPAC staffers wrote in a brief earlier this month supporting an application
. _from ~h~ R~port~rs Committe.e for the Freedom of tJle Press to file an amicus
1/26/2006
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