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Ross Ulbricht's Lawyer Says FBI's Hack of Silk Road Was "Criminal"

Posted by samzenpus on from the do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do dept.

First time accepted submitter apexcp writes Trading blows with the prosecution, defendants for accused Silk Road mastermind Ross Ulbricht continues to press for the exclusion of evidence seized during what he says is an illegal hack an awful lot like the one that got Weev 15 months in prison. "The government posits two standards of behavior: one for private citizens, who must adhere to a strict standard of conduct construed by the government, and the other for the government, which, with its elastic ability to effect electronic intrusion, can deliberately, cavalierly, and unrepentantly transgress those same standards. Yet neither law nor the Constitution permits rank government lawlessness without consequences."

4 of 208 comments (clear)

  1. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis by Tokolosh · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "To declare that in the administration of criminal law the end justifies the means to declare that the Government may commit crimes in order to secure conviction of a private criminal would bring terrible retribution."

    "Our government... teaches the whole people by its example. If the government becomes the lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy."

    --
    Prove anything by multiplying Huge Number times Tiny Number
  2. Go Ross, Go! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Silk Road Kingpin or not, I'm rooting for Ross here. The fact of the matter is that the Government has made a habit out of adopting these types of double standards and ignoring the civil rights that are guaranteed to us as citizens of the United States. If Ross' legal team can bring the government down a notch or two, I'll be forever grateful to them.

    1. Re:Go Ross, Go! by davydagger · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I'm rooting for the Silk Road, not because I agree with it, but because its lesser of two evils between them, traditional drug cartels, and the street pushers, who enforce their reign with viloence.

      So the Silk Road offered a good alternative to street gangs, measurablly better in every way. Better product(less chance of killing/hurting people with impurities), less violence, Less domination, control and indimidation on the streets. Less hiearchy.

      Sure the street gangs and cartels could also sell on the Silk Road, but that would make them adapt to its culture and end most of the endemic problems with violence associated with them.

  3. Re:when the president does it by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 5, Funny

    You are absolutely fucking wrong. Literally.

    Hmm...So what's the right way to fuck?