The Military May Start Prosecuting Military Families Who Access Certain Web Sites

The incentive for joining the military continues to decline. Consider the coming attack on the First Amendment planned by the military, and yes, I do understand the military's rules are the Uniform Code of Military Justice, but...

The military may begin prosecuting members and their family members for surfing to particular Web sites. When you hear that you may be thinking porn sites or kiddie porn sites, but that's not what's being discussed. I know from when I was in the Army, it's not uncommon for the post commander to list certain local establishments as off limits.  I understand that's the Army's way of looking out for their soldiers and itself.

The site that is being considered is WikiLeaks or any document released by WikiLeaks. The Air Force is making the case that any Air Force member or family member who reads WikiLeaks may be in violation of the Espionage Act.

Steven Aftergood of Secrecy News has published a document from the legal office of Air Force Material Command warning service members that if they access WikiLeaks from a personal computer they will be subject to prosecution under the Espionage Act. In addition, the document says that family members of Air Force personnel who access WikiLeaks are subject to prosecution.

While the Air Force is hoping to prevent its members from reading WikiLeaks, their attorneys are threatening dependents who often use the same computers as the service member and still are under the Constitutional rule of law--specifically the First Amendment. So you can see the can of worms this opens for service members if a family member was to read one of the common leaks.