Nicholas Hughes

Staff Writer

 

Edward Snowden. Whistle blower and patriot of America. Known for exposing the unconstitutional domestic surveillance practices. Perpetrated by the National Security Agency (NSA) in 2013. The United States government charged him for violating the Espionage Act.

Snowden should be home in America living his life the way he wants to. President Obama has the power to do this with executive clemency. The president should use this great power he has and give a true American Patriot justice. It would be a grievous oversight of the President not to grant clemency to Edward Snowden.

Snowden is a hero. What he did took courage and few people would be willing to make. The sacrifice that Snowden made our country a better place. What Snowden found in the documents he was collecting was disturbing to him. He leaked the documents to a newspaper called The Guardian.

Snowden had to flee to Hong Kong, China before leaking the documents. He knew he would be branded as a traitor. Snowden said in an interview with the United Kingdom newspaper called The Guardian, “I’m willing to sacrifice [my former life] because I can’t in good conscience allow the U.S. government to destroy privacy, Internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they’re secretly building.” The surveillance that the NSA performed was unlawful.

The NSA overstepped the legal limit of what they could do. Snowden made sure that the American public was aware of what the government was doing. They charged a man for making sure that the public knows what the government is doing. This is an atrocious act of misusing power.

Snowden is now stuck in Russia and cannot come home to America. That is wrong. There is one thing that can happen though that would let this patriot return home. A presidential pardon from President Barack Obama would allow Snowden to come home. This is what needs to happen. If it doesn’t happen then it will be one of the greatest crimes that America has committed herself.

There are many places to go to show support for Snowden. The best one is the ACLU website called Pardon Snowden. Their supporters can sign the petition urging President Obama to grant clemency to Snowden. Do the right thing and help give Edward Snowden his freedom back.