Whistle-blower Ed Snowden spoke recently at the Liberty Forum in New Hampshire from a remote location via Skype. Among the topics he addressed was the question of whether or not he would return to the United States for a trial by jury.

After selectively releasing thousands of NSA documents that demonstrate widespread, illegal government spying on U.S. citizens as well as many others worldwide, Snowden has been living in asylum in an undisclosed location in Russia for over two years. The offer of asylum from Russia was for three years. He has applied for asylum in nearly two dozen other countries but has yet to secure an agreement with any of them.

Asked about the conditions under which he might return to the United States, Snowden said that:
"I've told the government that I would return if they guarantee a fair trial where I can make a public interest defense of why this was done and allow a jury to decide if it was right or wrong."

Snowden further noted the government responded with a letter from the Attorney General saying that "they promised they would not torture me. I'm not kidding. I have that letter."

I suppose that is somewhat of an improvement, given that previously the government's "generosity" extended only as far as having offered not to execute him. Yet it is a far cry from a fair trial before independent jurors fully informed of their authority to conscientiously acquit if they believe that strict enforcement of the law would be unjust.

Regardless of whether anyone approves or disapproves of Snowden's disclosures, as we've noted before Ed Snowden has the same right to the benefits of trial by jury as all of the rest of us. Those benefits include the right to a fully informed jury.

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