The ACLU will be helping him in court.
The ACLU will be helping him in court. Citizenfour image courtesy of Praxis Films

The ACLU announced today:

Thanks to Edward Snowden’s act of conscience, we’ve made historic strides in our fight for surveillance reform and improved cybersecurity. That’s why today... we’re unveiling a major effort calling on President Obama to pardon the NSA whistleblower.

The ACLU goes on to add that they are being "joined in this campaign by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, and we already have an impressive list of over 100 former national security officials, legal scholars, technology and business leaders, human rights activists, and artists on board."

The list ACLU is touting?

George Soros, founder and chair of the Open Society Foundations
Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple
Timothy Edgar, former director at the Obama White House National Security Staff
Maggie Gyllenhaal, actor
Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia
Michael Stipe, musician
Teju Cole, writer
Melvin Goodman, former CIA division chief and senior analyst
Bruce Ackerman, Yale Law School professor
Eve Ensler, writer
Daniel Radcliffe, actor

It's hard to imagine president Obama reversing himself on Edward Snowden just because Maggie Gyllenhaal and Harry Potter are in, but who knows! I suppose if you've been stuck in Russia for years with no hope of returning to your home country except in chains or worse, anything's worth trying.

The full list of Pardon Snowden supporters is here (including a surprising number of literary lights I'm sure most people aren't familiar with, although they should be, like Marie Howe, Sam Lipsyte, Anne Carson...). If you would like to add your name to Pardon Snowden's list, you may do that here.

The Verge makes the case for Snowden's pardon here. Snowden's ALCU counsel Ben Wizner is quoted as saying, "We’re going to make a very strong case between now and the end of this administration that this is one of those rare cases for which the pardon power exists."

As the Verge acknowledges: "it’s a long shot." But they also point out:

Snowden risked his life to perform one of the most pivotal public disclosures of our time, shedding light on surveillance systems that have grown far beyond the reach of democratic accountability. The documents he published — the source of his crime — have brought about profound changes in the way we build technology and communicate online. His continued exile is shameful, and ending it is a unique chance to reclaim the legacy of a president who has often failed to live up to his own promises of transparency.

Snowden says the question of whether he should be pardoned "is not for me to answer," but adds, "I love my country. I love my family. I have dedicated my life to both of them. But I cannot support the persecution of those charged under an Espionage Act when they have committed no espionage."

You can watch him say those things—and a few other things—below. It's only 1 minute long.

Hillary Clinton thinks Snowden broke laws and should have to "face the music."

Donald Trump calls him "a spy who should be executed."

Here are a few other takes:




As for Charles Mudede's review of the brand new Oliver Stone film Snowden? Well, here's a taste: "Snowden appears to have done only one interesting thing in his life."