Leak of A-Rod's failed drug test is likely a federal crime, Anthony Barkow writes in New York Daily News op-ed

Leak of A-Rod's failed drug test is likely a federal crime, writes Anthony Barkow in New York Daily News op-ed

In a February 12 op-ed in the New York Daily News, Anthony Barkow, executive director of the Law School’s Center on the Administration of Criminal Law, writes that those who leaked New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez’s failed 2003 drug test likely committed a federal crime.

Barkow notes that the records of Rodriguez’s test when he played for the Texas Rangers are under seal by court order, and anyone who disobeys that order is guilty of contempt punishable by imprisonment. It is also a crime, punishable by imprisonment, for a law enforcement official to disclose a matter before a grand jury, as this was. Further, the Justice Department has its own rules prohibiting leaks.

“Rodriguez’s cheating is not excused by the fact that it should have not been exposed in this way,” Barkow writes. “But similarly, the leaks are not excused by his cheating.”

According to Barkow, the Justice Department should investigate who leaked the information and those who violated the law should be punished.

“It is not up to individuals hiding behind a cloak of anonymity to decide who suffers the stigma of public accusation of conduct related to criminality. The Constitution leaves that decision to grand juries and trial juries."