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A Dispatch From Outside the Prison Holding Barrett Brown

Posted by timothy on from the are-they-feeding-you-well? dept.

Daniel_Stuckey writes with an excerpt from his story at Motherboard: "Yesterday, I got as close as any media physically can to Barrett Brown, the American journalist that was locked up in late 2012 for pasting a hyperlink in a chatroom, which federal prosecutors alleged contained leaked credit card data from the Statfor hacks. Due to a media gag order upheld by the US District Court in the Northern District of Texas, Brown isn't allowed to make "any statement to members of any television, radio, newspaper, magazine, internet (included, but not limited to bloggers)," with the exception of Kevin M. Gallagher, who heads his defense fund. ... Earlier this week, US Attorney Sarah Saldaña filed a motion to dismiss 11 of Brown's charges, namely those related to the pasted hyperlink (including trafficking in stolen authentication features, aggravated identity theft, and access device fraud). The motion came as both a victory for Brown's case, and a sigh of relief to supporters who have continuously cited the absurdity of his charges related to hyperlinking."

8 of 95 comments (clear)

  1. A year and a half locked up by mrspoonsi · · Score: 5, Interesting

    No trial yet, his free speech (as a journalist) removed, why? does he have the knowledge of a WMD which can wipe out man kind? no, he pasted a link to some credit card data. Good job he not share a few mp3s, it could be much worse.

    1. Re:A year and a half locked up by Runaway1956 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "files this Motion to Dismiss Count One and
      Counts Three through Twelve in the original Indictment and in the Superseding Indictment
      in the above entitled and numbered cause."

      It seems to me that some douchebag(s) decided that free speech should be punished based on bullshit reasons. They just made up bullshit reasons to have him imprisoned, and kept incommunicado. A year and a half on, "Your honor, we want to just dismiss all these charges. They are totally bogus, and we'll never be able to prove any of them."

      Yes, this IS very much about the government saying "you are busted for speaking".

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    2. Re:A year and a half locked up by sumdumass · · Score: 5, Interesting

      No, he is still being held for access device fraud (possessing stolen credit card info) and making threats to an FBI agent and his family. He is also on some obstruction charges connected to his hiding two laptops from a search.

      The pasting of links and all are just in the middle of this making you think something that isn't really the case.

    3. Re:A year and a half locked up by gIobaljustin · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Gag orders are pretty common.

      I like how you say this as if how common something is makes a difference to whether or not someone's rights are being violated.

      --
      Thank you Dave Raggett
    4. Re:A year and a half locked up by russotto · · Score: 5, Insightful

      What exactly are those?

      First amendment: freedom of speech.
      Fifth Amendment: deprivation of liberty without due process
      Sixth Amendment: speedy and public trial by jury
      Eighth Amendment: excessive bail imposed

      Sure, the government violates these rights often. Doesn't mean they aren't violations.

      If Nixon could have put Woodward and Bernstein in prison, incommunicado, for the rest of his term, he'd never have been impeached.

  2. Media gag order by EmperorOfCanada · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The charges are stupid, but the media gag order is downright scary. There is a good reason the 1st amendment was written and it was that control of information is the ultimate in power. It was recognized that when the government is allowed to shut you up that it is then that the worst abuses can occur.

    But this case highlights another serious problem with the US justice system and that is where, after this is dismissed, that the prosecutors will face little or no consequences for trying to enforce the will of a corporation.

    And, of course, there is even less chance that this politically well connected company or its officers will face any consequences at all.

    There needs to be some mechanism where governments that try to abusively control information results in horrific penalties to those involved such as serious jail time. Otherwise those who leak, those who film police, and those who deny inconvenient freedom of information requests will just continue to hide embarrassing information using the most abusive powers at their disposal.

    For example, I can't remember the last time someone was arrested for filming and anything bad happening to the police who then tried to destroy the footage. This should be minimally resulting in destruction of evidence charges, and often kidnapping charges for the arrest. So no laws need to be changed or anything in these cases, just a willingness to realize that the police are not perfect little roses and that we are all better off when they are head up to even higher standards of justice.

  3. Prosecutors too busy to catch the real criminals by purpledinoz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It amazes me that US prosecutors go full throttle going after people like Barrett Brown and Aaron Swartz, while people like Jon Corzine (who made $1.6B of customer money disappear at MF Global) and many other fraudsters in the banking industry are left alone to continue their fraud. And no one seems to care enough to do something about it.

  4. Why ? Because USA has become more Soviet than USSR by Taco+Cowboy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    No trial yet, his free speech (as a journalist) removed, why?

    The United States of America was the country I fled to, after I got out of China.

    In the China I escaped from, back then, people could be locked up, without trial, and the authority could use any trump up charge against them, and there is nothing the people could do, as China has no "Bill of Rights" nor a Constitution that guarantees the rights of the citizens.

    Nowadays, in China, people are still being locked up, on trumped up charges, but at the very least, the authority has to try to prove that their trump up charge is valid (but of course everybody know that they are bullshit).

    On the other hand, the very country that I fled to, the United States of America has become the United Soviet of America.

    Not only the authority can lock up anyone with any trumped up charge, without any trial, the authority can also go against the Bill of Rights and the Constitution of the United States of America, as though both documents are now as worthy as a soiled toilet paper.

    What the fuck is going on, man ?

    Why are the Americans, - (and I am one of them, a naturalized American) - especially those who are born and bred, letting the nation to turn into such a horrible police state ??

    --
    Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !