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Barrett Brown sentenced to 63 months in prison

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Re: Barrett Brown sentenced to 63 months in prison

#51

Post by mentat »

specialp wrote: post #33
CamperBob2 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have any cases where NSA illegal wiretaps were used as evidence in court in a standard trial like this against a U.S. citizen? Under the doctrine of parallel construction, as revealed in the Snowden disclosures, there is no way for the court to know if illegal NSA wiretaps or other surveillance activities were involved. The fruit of the poison tree is now on sale at your local justice supermarket.

By that logic every single case that the FBI prosecutes is fruit of the poison tree. I am in no way in support of NSA activities, but in order to make your claim you need some proof unfortunately. If it were ever proven that the FBI regularly uses NSA warantless wiretaps to aid in convictions of US citizens there will be many cases overturned.

Unfortunately that proof is made systematically unavailable, hence the injustice.

Re: Barrett Brown sentenced to 63 months in prison

#52

Post by atlantic »

tptacek wrote: post #49
emptytheory wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"so by implication you're saying it's immoral to enforce laws against all lesser offenses" Amazingly, the parent didn't actually say or imply that. "worse crimes go unpunished" doesn't imply "enforcing laws against lesser offenses is immoral".

So then, what was the point of that comment? What was it trying to persuade the thread about? Serious question; I'm not asking so that I can rebut you.

I think the point being made is that the law is enforced selectively and with varying degrees of enthusiasm, to further the interests of specific political groups.

Re: Barrett Brown sentenced to 63 months in prison

#53

Post by fnordfnordfnord »

specialp wrote: post #18
Alupis wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My guess is he plead guilty under advisement his case was hopeless. There's a significant likelihood evidence necessary to aide his case is locked away deep inside the FBI. A very a la NSA illegal wiretaps putting people in prison under guise of "confidential informant".

Do you have any cases where NSA illegal wiretaps were used as evidence in court in a standard trial like this against a U.S. citizen? If the FBI said well our evidence is a confidential informant that would not be valid as the defense has a right to cross examine witnesses and evidence. This guy pled guilty. Maybe it was due to fear of courts handling tech cases, or maybe it was due to the fact that there was a large…

>Do you have any cases where NSA illegal wiretaps were used as evidence in court in a standard trial like this against a U.S. citizen?

Okay please stop this nonsense. It is not necessary or reasonable to expect any individual to be able to collect of provide evidence that the most well-financed, most-powerful spy agency ever known to exist has spied on them and that the government (DOJ) has illegally used information obtained that way in a prosecution against same. It's not unprecedented, and it's not as if it is even possible to discover every case of this happening.

>This guy pled guilty. Maybe it was due to fear of courts handling tech cases

Or maybe because any individual is hopelessly outmatched by the state in a case such as this.

Re: Barrett Brown sentenced to 63 months in prison

#54

Post by aqme28 »

rayiner wrote: post #46
shit_parade wrote: post #10

The US government's system of justice seems increasingly opaque, arbitrary, and solely for the purpose of maintaining the status quo and those already in power. Meanwhile, much worse crimes by those in power such as torture go unpunished.

It only seems opaque because the article is so shitty. They bury the actual basis of the sentence in the middle: > He ultimately signed a plea deal on three lesser charges: transmitting a threat, trying to hide a laptop computer during a raid, and to being "accessory after the fact in the unauthorized access to a protected computer." The factual stipulation justifies each of these: https://freebarrettbrown.org/files/…

Can you elaborate on the context in 2? From what I've read, he was just mocking a Fox news clip and wasn't threatening anyone but arguably himself.

Re: Barrett Brown sentenced to 63 months in prison

#55

Post by tptacek »

aqme28 wrote: post #54
rayiner wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It only seems opaque because the article is so shitty. They bury the actual basis of the sentence in the middle: > He ultimately signed a plea deal on three lesser charges: transmitting a threat, trying to hide a laptop computer during a raid, and to being "accessory after the fact in the unauthorized access to a protected computer." The factual stipulation justifies each of these: https://freebarrettbrown.org/files/…

Can you elaborate on the context in 2? From what I've read, he was just mocking a Fox news clip and wasn't threatening anyone but arguably himself.

The videos were idiotic, and although I made them in a manic state brought on by sudden withdrawal from Paxil and Suboxone, and while distraught over the threats to prosecute my mother, that’s still me in those YouTube clips talking nonsense about how the FBI would never take me alive.

The video threats are the one charge he seems unambiguously contrite about.

Re: Barrett Brown sentenced to 63 months in prison

#56

Post by fnordfnordfnord »

tptacek wrote: post #16
sroerick wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you heard his "threats" against federal agents? God forbid journalists protect their sources. https://wikileaks.org/Assange-statement-on-the.html

His own sentencing allocution --- which was, to say the least, not a weak-kneed cowtowing to the DOJ to minimize his sentencing --- admitted fully to those threats and blamed them on withdrawal from Paxil and Suboxone. The threatening videos and tweets were the most unambiguous regret he expressed. Regrets he expressed moments before haranguing the DOJ, at length, for their misconduct during the case.

>Regrets he expressed moments before haranguing the DOJ, at length, for their misconduct during the case.

Is that supposed to make a difference?

Re: Barrett Brown sentenced to 63 months in prison

#57

Post by coldtea »

tptacek wrote: post #35
lstyls wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A "miscarriage of justice" implies an occasional event. The system is rigged in favor of those individuals and groups that hold power in this country.

For hundreds of years, African Americans were systematically murdered, robbed, raped, and disenfranchised by hundreds of thousands of American citizens who were never made culpable for the overwhelming vast majority of those offenses. If countries had to give up after continuous cycles of injustice, there would be no countries. I concede ahead of time that there's a coherent political philosophy that says "that's rig…

>If countries had to give up after continuous cycles of injustice, there would be no countries.

And that would be bad because?

Re: Barrett Brown sentenced to 63 months in prison

#58

Post by tptacek »

fnordfnordfnord wrote: post #56
tptacek wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

His own sentencing allocution --- which was, to say the least, not a weak-kneed cowtowing to the DOJ to minimize his sentencing --- admitted fully to those threats and blamed them on withdrawal from Paxil and Suboxone. The threatening videos and tweets were the most unambiguous regret he expressed. Regrets he expressed moments before haranguing the DOJ, at length, for their misconduct during the case.

>Regrets he expressed moments before haranguing the DOJ, at length, for their misconduct during the case. Is that supposed to make a difference?

Yes, but not the way you think it does: my point is just that he wasn't admitting to random things to kowtow to the court and minimize his sentence. The majority of the allocution is accusatory, combative, and unrepentant. And, good for him for being honest. But it follows logically that things he did admit in the allocution, he was admitting sincerely.

Re: Barrett Brown sentenced to 63 months in prison

#59

Post by FeeTinesAMady »

specialp wrote: post #33
CamperBob2 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have any cases where NSA illegal wiretaps were used as evidence in court in a standard trial like this against a U.S. citizen? Under the doctrine of parallel construction, as revealed in the Snowden disclosures, there is no way for the court to know if illegal NSA wiretaps or other surveillance activities were involved. The fruit of the poison tree is now on sale at your local justice supermarket.

By that logic every single case that the FBI prosecutes is fruit of the poison tree. I am in no way in support of NSA activities, but in order to make your claim you need some proof unfortunately. If it were ever proven that the FBI regularly uses NSA warantless wiretaps to aid in convictions of US citizens there will be many cases overturned.

Every case prosecuted by the FBI ever since parallel construction started is fruit of the poison tree.
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