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by achughes 4745 days ago
If they didn't give Robert Hanssen the death penalty, I highly doubt Snowden is going to get it
2 comments

They also didn't sentence John Walker to death, and he arguably puts Snowden and Manning combined into the minor leagues.
Presumably this guy? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Anthony_Walker

(There's a lot of John Walkers on Wikipedia.)

The federal government pursued the death penalty against Brian Patrick Regan in 2003. The jury decided against the punishment, however, and is now serving a life sentence without parole.
He had also made an offer to foreign governments to sell the information, and judging by the fact that he was carrying classified documents with him when he was arrested, I'd say that he planned on acting on those offers. By contrast, AFAIK Snowden has made no such offer and has not talked with the Chinese government.
I agree that what Regan attempted to do was far worse than what Snowden did. It's not even in the same category. I was just pointing out that the feds did pursue the death penalty in this case despite not pursuing it in the Hanssen case.
Him or the Jury?
The prosecuters asked the jury to choose the death penalty but they declined to do so.