On March 23, 2006, ACS's Washington DC Lawyer Chapter hosted a panel discussion on the criminal and civil liability of journalists who reveale classified information relating to government activities -- on the same day that The Washington Post's lead editorial warned of such "Dangerous Prosecution". The panel was moderated by Lillie Coney, Associate Director of the Electronic Information Privacy Center, and featured Walter Pincus, staff writer for The Washington Post; David Rivkin, partner at Baker Hostetler and former official in the George H.W. Bush Justice Department; and Lee Levine, partner at Levine Sullivan Koch & Schulz, L.L.P. and adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center.

The panelists shared their thoughts and answered questions on the potential for journalists to be accountable, under either civil or criminal law, for publishing classified material. The discussion focused on three particular pending cases: the Wen Ho Lee civil suit; the prosecution of senior Administration officials for revealing the identity of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson; and the indictment under the Espionage Act of officials at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee for illegally receiving classified information from a Pentagon employee. Pincus offered his perspective as a journalist specializing in national security issues and asserted that many journalists and newspapers have refused to be intimidated by the administration’s attempts to chill the publication of classified information. He noted the publication of several stories within the past year revealing classified and potentially illegal government activities, such as The Post’s coverage of secret CIA prisons in Europe or the New York Times' revelation of the NSA's domestic surveillance program. While acknowledging free speech concerns, Rivkin also provided a national security and law enforcement perspective, arguing that publishers and journalists should exercise reasonable restraint when faced with sensitive information. He and Levine discussed whether a longstanding "gentlemen's agreement" between the government and press has broken down. Levine warned that, though the government is unlikely to enforce the Espionage Act against journalists, reporters do face real dangers if authorities choose to punish them for refusing to reveal their sources. The panelists all agreed that First Amendment rights will be at risk should the government overzealously restrict the rights of journalists to receive and publish information in the public interest.