You are an assistant US attorney starting your first day on the job. You have been presented with four case files and told to review them and recommend criminal prosecutions based on the facts. Read each one and then decide which crime should be prosecuted. Be sure to provide the facts of each case. Your response must be in APA format.
1. The defendant, an army intelligence analyst stationed near Baghdad, Iraq, downloaded thousands of classified Iraq and Afghanistan documents and confidential cables and released them to an ex-computer hacker who thereafter exposed them to the public.
Which crime should be prosecuted: treason or obstruction of justice? Read about this case at this link: 13.4.2
2. The defendant typed up notes while her husband was analyzing sketches of a top-secret bomb’s design for the purpose of
passing the design on to another nation. Which crime should be prosecuted: conspiracy to commit espionage or sabotage?
Read about this case at this link: 13.4.2
3. The defendant, a cosmetic company, paid Chinese officials to obtain direct licensing of its product in China. Which crime
should be prosecuted: harboring terrorists abroad or bribery? Read about this case at this link: 13.4.2
4. The defendant, a corrections officer, lied to federal law enforcement during an investigation of her role in the assault of an
inmate. Which crime should be prosecuted: perjury or obstruction of justice? Read about this case at this link: 13.4.2
Sample Answer
It's understandable that you'd want to review those case files on your first day! As an Assistant U.S. Attorney, the recommendation for prosecution must be based on the specific elements of the crime that the facts most directly support, keeping in mind the highest provable offense.
Since I cannot access external links, my recommendations will be based on the facts provided in the prompt and standard U.S. federal criminal law definitions.
Recommended Criminal Prosecutions for Case Files
The following analysis details the facts of each case and recommends the most appropriate federal crime for prosecution based on the specific actions described.
Case 1: Classified Document Release
Facts of the Case: The defendant, an army intelligence analyst stationed near Baghdad, Iraq, downloaded thousands of classified Iraq and Afghanistan documents and confidential cables and released them to an ex-computer hacker who thereafter exposed them to the public.
Recommended Crime: Treason
Rationale: Treason is defined in the U.S. Constitution (Article 1$\text{III}$, Section 3) and U.S. Code (2$\text{18 U.S.C.} \S 2381$) as levying war against the United States or adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.3 While a case could potentially be made for Espionage ($\text{18 U.S.C.} \S 793$ or $\S 798$), the action of an intelligence analyst releasing thousands of classified documents to the public, thereby knowingly compromising national security on a massive scale, aligns more strongly with the high bar of giving aid and comfort to foreign adversaries or enemies of the U.S. government than obstruction of justice, which typically involves impeding a legal proceeding. Given the context of the actions occurring while stationed in a war zone, the act is one of ultimate disloyalty that fits the gravity of treason.