I was reading the Northern Star’s view on Judith Miller’s vow on not revealing her sources, and I was troubled. Granted, there should be some vow to silence when dealing with investigative journalism. However, this is an investigation of a federal crime. Robert Novak is not culpable, for he did not know Valerie Plume was an undercover operative. However, the person who leaked this information has violated the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982 (50 U.S.C., Section 421). The source of this leak had to have some sort of security clearance to come across this information.

This sort of information isn’t known to White House or any agencies’ staffers, nor is it granted to policy advisers because of the level of security clearance needed to discover such information. Security clearances are delegated by a computer program called ESPQ (the SF-86, which is the paper version), but just because a person is granted security clearance does not mean they have access to all information. That is to say, a “Secret Clearance Level” in the Department of Defense may not transfer over to the NSA or a “Top Secret Security Clearance” at the CIA may not transfer over or may be considered a secret clearance level at the FBI. So, this leak had to come from someone with access.

If Miller knows who it is, then she can stay quiet, but she must be willing to accept the consequences of her silence. She could be charged with obstructing justice, which has a minimum five-year prison sentence. Federal criminal cases can carry up to a 20-year sentence. The court also can order her to expose the leak, and if she declines to do so, she can be jailed for contempt of court. In a contempt of court sentencing, she will be released as soon as she complies with the court order. My point is, this is a federal criminal case. A crime has been committed, and those responsible need to be punished. If Miller is the only thing standing between the court and justice, then she should reveal her source.

Constantine J. Argiris

Senior, political science