Degree Type
Honors Capstone Project
Date of Submission
Spring 5-1-2018
Capstone Advisor
Thomas Keck
Honors Reader
Miriam Elman
Capstone Major
Political Science
Capstone College
Arts and Science
Audio/Visual Component
no
Capstone Prize Winner
no
Won Capstone Funding
no
Honors Categories
Social Sciences
Subject Categories
American Politics | Political Science | Social and Behavioral Sciences
Abstract
The central question surrounding this thesis is whether or not United States’ federal courts are balancing the issue of national security threats against the issue of public interest when dealing with whistleblower cases. The first step it takes in answering this question is examining whistleblowers under John Rawls’ standard of justified acts of civil disobedience. Afterwards, the research examines how the respective courts look at the act of leaking causing a potential security threat or its benefit to the public interest. This analysis is performed by using the Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ structure for dealing with free speech issues as a guide. The whistleblowers that are examined are the following: Daniel Ellsberg, Thomas Andrews Drake, John Kiriakou, Chelsea Manning, and Edward Snowden. Finally, the research concludes by examining the results, applying the results to what it would mean for the case of Snowden, and ultimately what it would mean for whistleblower cases at large.
Recommended Citation
Benjamin, Damyre, "The Espionage Act Versus Whistleblowers and the Public Interest" (2018). Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All. 1243.
https://surface.syr.edu/honors_capstone/1243
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
