Well, this is unfortunate. Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams have been sentenced to prison. There are still appeals to be made, but if they don’t get it overturned, they’ve been sented to do 18 months.

They’re certainly not the first journalists to be going to jail for a refusal to give up their source. I don’t believe they did anything but seek to present the truth to the public, but at the same time, the government’s got every right, in fact, it should be expected, to do all they can to figure out who illegally leaked grand jury testimoney.

It’s too bad that they’re probably going to do time. They’re not bad people, they didn’t seek to do anything but put the truth out there. A free press is important. It’s more than important, it’s crucial. It’s necessary. They did their job, and they did it well.

But at the same time… protecting grand jury testimony is also important. Not to me, necessarily, but you could see why it would be important to our legal system. I may not like the law that says they have to go to jail, but it is the law, and it’s not a secret to anyone.

I’m left in the position of admiring Fainaru-Wada and Williams, but I can’t really feel bad for them. I don’t want them to do time, I wouldn’t wish that on hardly anyone. But they published a book that contained grand jury testimony, and they had to know that this was a risk they’d face along the way. They did it, and they’re not backing down from it, and I admire the hell out of them.

I probably wouldn’t do the same. Scratch that–I definitely wouldn’t do the same. If someone gave me some private grand jury testimony that indicated that Barry Bonds was injecting steroids, smashing the skulls of baby puppies with concrete blocks, had killed Jon Benet Ramsay, and was currently harboring Osama bin Laden in his basement… well, it’s not going to be me that rats him out.

If they end up going in, I hope their stay is brief and devoid of any sort of anal violation. Good luck, fellas.