WikiLeaks Cannot Hurt the US Government, Judge Kollar-Kotelly Decided

I used to applaud the decisions of Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the United States District Court in Washington, especially the one describing the Bush administration’s rule which allowed people carry concealed, loaded guns in national parks and wildlife refuges, as “astoundingly flawed.”

But, I cannot stop scratching my head reading her most recent decision which seems dictated by the current administration and not by the Judge’s legal reasoning. It holds that a document can be simultaneously public and classified. According to this Judge, a classified document does not need to be secret, it only needs to be labeled “classified.”

We at ThePotholeView.com certainly hope that the attorneys for Pfc. Bradley Manning, the Army intelligence analyst accused of providing them to WikiLeaks while they were classified, will use Judge Kollar-Kotelly’s decision to argue for the release of their client. According to Judge Kollar-Kotelly’s decision no one can actually engage in any criminal act when it comes to classified documents by the US Government. Even if disclosed, such documents remain classified until the government says they are no longer classified.

So, why shan’t we all have access to classified documents if their secrecy is not what preserves their nature?