Former Pentagon official sentenced 12 years for classified info leak News
Former Pentagon official sentenced 12 years for classified info leak

[JURIST] US District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III of the Eastern District of Virginia [official website] on Friday sentenced former Pentagon analyst Lawrence A. Franklin [Wikipedia profile] to 12 years and 7 months in federal prison for leaking classified information in 2003 about potential attacks on US forces in Iraq. Franklin, who pleaded guilty [JURIST report] in October, passed the information to an Israeli embassy official, Naor Gilon, and two former members of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) [advocacy website] who allegedly disclosed the information to the press and foreign officials. He will not begin serving his sentence until after the trials of Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman [indictment, PDF; JURIST report], whose lawyers claim the lobbyists' discussions with Franklin are protected by the First Amendment. Ellis handed down a sentence, which could be decreased if Franklin cooperates in the Rosen and Weissman trials, that sits at the low end of federal sentencing guidelines because he believed Franklin's claim that he leaked the information to protect the US against threats from an unspecified nation in the Middle East. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Montgomery started racially-integrated bus service after boycott

On December 21, 1956, buses in Montgomery, Alabama, started racially integrated service following federal court rulings ending on-board segregation. Bus boycott leaders Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and Rev. Ralph Abernathy were among the first riders under the new scheme. Learn about the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Stalin born

On December 21, 1879, Joseph Stalin was born in Gori, Georgia. In 1922, he became leader of the USSR until his death in 1953. During his time as Soviet dictator, Stalin industrialized his country, which he then led to become one of the world's two superpowers after WWII. Through his infamous purges, show trials and nationwide famines, Stalin also became responsible for millions of deaths.