I have loved justice and hated iniquity: therefore I die in exile.
May 26, 2016 11:12 AM   Subscribe

I miss my mom and dad and brother, my friends, my dog and cat, my giant redwood trees, and tacos.
Tor developer isis agora lovecruft is the latest developer to seek self exile and tells her story of FBI harrassment.

She is not alone.
Vera Wilde; who worked on Polygraph projects with a McClatchy reporter which established that the CIA Polygraph Division breaks the law and has lied to Congress about it, was told that, ``as an artist, I was law enforcement’s natural enemy´´ has also left America.
Whilest Jacob Applebaum is still in Berlin, Laura Poitras has since returned to America since this article was published.
Meanwhile as related in this sad post Chelsea gets a visitor, her first since November.
posted by adamvasco (28 comments total) 27 users marked this as a favorite
 
Scary (if not surprising, alas) stuff. From the third link, just as a point of general interest:
My lawyer mentioned a legal technicality (which may or may not be actually legal because precedent is unclear): having a prior retainer to a defense lawyer in the United States does not mean that a lawyer can invoke the client’s Miranda Rights (i.e. the right to remain silent) for the client, but that the client may be technically required to personally invoke their own Miranda Rights.
posted by languagehat at 12:27 PM on May 26, 2016 [1 favorite]


There is an interesting earlier blog post by bcrypt about meeting Manning around MIT.
posted by jeffburdges at 12:29 PM on May 26, 2016 [1 favorite]


Five minutes later, Burnett called back and said, “I don’t believe you actually represent her.”¹ Burnett stated additionally that a phone call from me might suffice, but that the FBI preferred to meet with me in person. After a pause he said, “But… if we happen to run into her on the street, we’re gonna be asking her some questions without you present.”

The thing about the Cold War is that the Soviets lost, and we also lost.
posted by Frowner at 12:47 PM on May 26, 2016 [12 favorites]


Yeah, the fbi behaviour seems really odd, even by fbi standards. That they would say those things to an attorney is kind of mind blowing, just straight up admitting that they are fishing.

The Chelsea Manning story is heartbreaking.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 12:55 PM on May 26, 2016 [2 favorites]


The most pernicious part of all this is the chilling effect. isis agora lovecruft might be totally paranoid, the FBI might not really give a crap about her, she might be wildly overreacting... but given the horrible stuff that has happened to other people for seemingly trivial reasons how could you possibly tell? How do you judge? Citizens shouldn't have to fear their government.
posted by Wretch729 at 12:59 PM on May 26, 2016 [10 favorites]


We have a government that will straight-up imprison, torture, and murder its own citizens without even a shred of due process, and not always even bother trying to lie about it. Just because it hasn't happened to you or anyone you personally know doesn't mean that the Powers that Be haven't made a complete mockery of the rule of law and the Constitution.

The U.S. government plays by the rules right up until it's inconvenient, and then all bets are off. Due process isn't something that you can do "most of the time" and have it still mean anything. And I'm just talking about willful violations of human rights here, not the ones that happen a hundred times a day just due to the way our justice system is structured. I'm talking about how the government is perfectly willing to just sidestep the justice system completely and abduct/torture/murder anyone that it finds annoying enough, even if they're a U.S. citizen.

When I see shit like that happening, what it tells me is that the whole edifice is rotten from top to bottom and that any laws designed to rein in the State's ability to abuse the citizenry are flimsy facades that can be ripped away at any time. You can go through your whole life and not have it affect you directly, but the threat is always there.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 1:51 PM on May 26, 2016 [20 favorites]


Government officials doing a custodial interrogation can decline to Mirandize a person and then ask the person questions without their lawyer present, even if they know the person has a lawyer because they just got off the phone with the lawyer, who incidentally said, "Don't talk to my client!" Just means that whatever they learn from that particular interview can't be used against the person in a criminal proceeding against that person.

They can also approach the person on the street, without Mirandizing zir, and ask questions, so long as a reasonable person in zir shoes would not feel that ze was under arrest, and use any answers against that person in a criminal proceeding. In fact, if they are federal agents, lying to them is its own discrete felony.

Not saying that's right or good, just that it's the law, as far as the U.S Constitution and Code are concerned.
posted by radicalawyer at 2:33 PM on May 26, 2016 [2 favorites]


What is the term that law enforcement uses when they obtain information in sneaky way that would make such information inadmissible, so they then obtain the information again in a way that makes it admissible?

Like for example the DEA using illegal wiretaps to find out someone is a drug dealer, then tasking the police with tailing them until they can stop them for a minor traffic violation and search the car?
posted by Doroteo Arango II at 3:26 PM on May 26, 2016


Fruit of the poisonous tree.
posted by rtha at 3:38 PM on May 26, 2016


Doroteo Arango II -- I believe the word you're looking for is "pretext."
posted by Nerd of the North at 4:03 PM on May 26, 2016


Parallel construction is when the DEA's Special Operations Division, or probably similar in other agencies, take illegally obtained surveillance and fakes a legal appearing investigation path to obtain it.

Also, install Tor if you're going to an abortion clinic :
Anti-Choice Groups Use Smartphone Surveillance to Target ‘Abortion-Minded Women’ During Clinic Visits
At least if you wish to avoid malware created by possibly violent pro-lifers.
posted by jeffburdges at 4:08 PM on May 26, 2016 [4 favorites]






Well, it's very likely to just get worse. On this issue, there's very little to choose between the two front-runners - Hillary Clinton has promised a "Manhattan project" to break encryption where as Trump has been less coherent about surveillance but has only mentioned it in terms of "more".
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 8:42 PM on May 26, 2016 [3 favorites]


On this issue, there's very little to choose between the two front-runners - Hillary Clinton has promised a "Manhattan project" to break encryption where as Trump has been less coherent about surveillance but has only mentioned it in terms of "more".

Donald Trump advocates torture and extrajudicial killing of civilians, so in terms of "rule of law" and "due process" he's drowning in excrement.

I'm not trying to let Obama/Clinton off the hook, mind you. But Trump is, without a doubt, worse.
posted by BungaDunga at 8:53 PM on May 26, 2016 [4 favorites]


The antichoice link by jeffburges upstream is terrifying.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 9:43 PM on May 26, 2016 [1 favorite]


The antichoice link by jeffburges upstream is terrifying.

I was about to say that, and it bears emphasizing.

jeffburdges your posts could be an important fpp on their own.
posted by maggiemaggie at 3:52 AM on May 27, 2016 [3 favorites]








Julian Assange's kitten has an awesome twitter feed.
posted by jeffburdges at 5:05 AM on May 28, 2016 [1 favorite]


There is now a second post by bcrypt about visiting Chelsea Manning.
posted by jeffburdges at 12:47 PM on May 28, 2016 [1 favorite]






Do not organize conferences in the U.K.
WTFUK : " Here's the story behind why I couldn't come to Oxford to give my talk"
posted by jeffburdges at 2:12 PM on June 11, 2016








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