jury sixth-amendment bill-of-rights espionage
Why no right to a jury trial in Espionage Act trials?
<p>Why are defendants in trials for alleged criminal violations of the 1917 US Espionage Act, -- as, say, Julian Assange would be if extradited to the US -- not afforded the same right to an open and public jury trial that all other defendants in criminal cases are allowed?  Is this patent violation of the defendant's Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial written into the Espionage Act itself,or is it justified by arguments from other legal precedents?</p>

<p>There is no exception arising from the Espionage Act, indeed in <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/312/19/" rel="noreferrer">Gorin v. US</a>, 312 U.S. 19, one of the holdings is that &quot;In a prosecution under §§ 1(b) and 2 of the Espionage Act, the jury determines whether the acts of the defendants were connected with or related to the national defense under proper tests laid down by the instructions&quot;. This does not mean that the prosecution will not be eager to avoid the possibility of jury nullification and may hope for a bench trial. Here is <a href="https://famous-trials.com/rosenberg/2226-verdict" rel="noreferrer">the transcript</a> of the jury verdict in the trial of the Rosenbergs, and <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/jury-convicts-former-cia-officer-espionage" rel="noreferrer">another report</a> of an espionage conviction in a trial by jury. There is no evidence that Assange &quot;would not be afforded a trial by jury&quot; if he requested it.</p>
