If you read the Guardian, then you know already that the screaming injustice that is about to be perpetrated on Scottish computer hacker Gary McKinnon has taken another step toward the cruel and unusual. McKinnon is a 43-year-old man from North London who, in 2001 and 2002, hacked into US military computers, looking for evidence of visitors from other planets. He was extremely successful, not only because he was a smart guy, but also because, as he said in messages left on the victim computers, "Your security is crap." McKinnon, as one might assume of a guy who spends his time in his room looking for evidence of space aliens, has been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome. He is terrified of coming to the US and being thrown into a high security American prison for sixty years. As well he should be. American officials have reassured his mother that he will be taken care of -- but hey, you know how reliable American officials are about taking care of the vulnerable, don't you? No wonder McKinnon is said to be suicidal.
But the mental illness does not belong to Gary McKinnon, it belongs to the US military, which has pursued McKinnon ruthlessly in order to punish and destroy him. They should have pursued him in order to hire him because, guess what? Their security was crap. He cost them $700,000! About one fifth the price of a nice apartment in Manhattan. Nothing! A day's pay for Blackwater! If they had hired McKinnon as a consultant, they might have learned something, and improved both their security and their international relations.
In Britain, the media dogs are barking because the English government has gone along with extraditing McKinnon like the sick puppies they are -- Iraq? Sure! You have no reason to invade? Well, make one up, we'll help ya! So even while the Iraq inquiry is going on, they are allowing the US to drag this guy kicking and screaming to the exact place where he most fears going.
You've got to ask yourself why the US thinks this is a big deal. It's because they don't care as much about security as they do about humiliation and embarrassment. Now that's what I call mental illness! We'll show this helpless little guy what the might of the US feels like! We can't win a war to save our lives, no matter how we try, but we sure can drive a guy with Asperger's to suicide. The US government from Obama on down should being falling over themselves to show this guy some mercy and put him on the payroll (he can work from home). But no. Why do people hate us? Well, take a look.
And do please sign the petition.
Jane Smiley: Noble Nobel Prize Winner Mario Vargas Llosa
That's a scream.
He's already contested extradition before the British Courts, The House of Lords AND the EU Court (are THEY American lap dogs, too?). He's exhausted every legal avenue he could have used, and that is a "screaming injustice". My dear Ms. Smiley, he's suffering from a surfeit of "justice" in delaying a real chance to present EVERYONE's side of the case and judge it all on its merits, rather than the trial of the Extradition Treaty in the Press- which is EXACTLY what this case has become, rather than a dispassionate consideration of Mr. McKinnon's alleged crimes.
The British press has not considered the claims of those damaged by Mr. McKinnon's activities to any real extent, instead entirely relying on his claims of searching for UFO materials.
But it's claimed he deleted critical files, created other havoc with government systems, and broke security rather than deal only with the "open and unsecured" systems he claims to have accessed.
BUT, he left anti-American messages and threats to disrupt more systems.
He's been accused of being very bad boy, and he seems to know it; and really, really doesn't want to face justice.
Of any sort.
That's why HE's screaming.
With his day in court, all HIS claims will be subjected to real scrutiny and testing, unlike the easy time the British press have given the lad....
I feel sorry for the country that would extradite its own citizens for such trumped up charges. Would the US extradite its citizens, for, say, hacking the Al Jazeera website as was done at the onset of the (latest) Iraq war?
Showing “experts”, that they didn’t know what they were talking about.
Now, could you please stand aside and let a real court of justice do its work. Thank you.
If this guy was smart enough to hack a military computer and leave a snarky message, he's smart enough to recognize his crime. The government should both fix their security and prosecute his butt.
Maybe not. Likely not. Asperger's syndrom is all about having a brain that divides up things you're smart about, from other things you're clueless about. Often the cluelessness is on the social side, the smartness on the technical side.
It's not a stretch to suppose that a person with Asperger's Syndrome could understand that hacking a military computer was illegal, while still remaining confused about whether superior technical insight ought to excuse hacking.
Neurotypical people rarely understand how illogical the world they live in actually is, because they use logic much less than they think. Social convention guides life--logic and rule being grafted over it. To someone who lives on logic (Asperger's, typically), and doesn't get social convention, life can appear chaotic. It's a minefield. What's permitted and what's forbidden can seem totally arbitrary and unpredictable, because all sorts of formal prohibitions are routinely broken by social convention, all the time.
There is no "Justice" within the system- it is in the name only.
Once you are within the system, it is "Laws" that govern, NOT justice.
The job of the Prosecuting Attorney is to get maximum convictions and maximum sentences.
The job of the defending attorney is to get their client free.
Where is any 'justice' in this?
And even if you believe there to be justice present, under what conditions does prison time make sense- either socially, economically, or from a "justice" perspective? The situations within US prisons is awful at best, and "reform" is hardly present, if at all. Most, if not all, individuals who are truly 'reformed' have done so long before spending 1 night of their sentence in prison. Those who are not, may well never be truly 'reformed', as can be seen from the high rate of repeat offenders.
I am all for a system of corrections, based upon justice; but what is being used in USA is generally neither corrective nor just.
Add to that the horror of the American penal system - surely as bad as any 3rd world lockup, and remember that the Constitution specifically prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. Is 5 years living with the constant fear of being stabbed by gang members, or the ever-popular threat of being raped (so funny in the mainstream media) cruel or unusual at all?
Add to that the stigma and permanent shame of a criminal record - even if one is arrested and exonerated, the arrest shows up on one's record for life.
Add to that the new and disturbing trend of 'private prisons' - where you become corporate property, and the corporation has a vested interest in keeping you inside, so I would imagine they routinely discover prisoner rule violations and extend people's sentences...
For most ordinary people, even a few days in prison would scare them straight for life. To America's shame, the 'good people' of this country continue to support and elect those who perpetuate this systemic gulag.
Does McKinnon's condition prevent him from understanding cause and effect? ie (if I hack into the DOD and break the law, I will go to prison if I get caught). If he is mentally incompetent in this manner this should be taken into consideration.
What is the precedent set for sentences for people who have committed similar offenses?
Sorry folks, this is real life not "Catch Me If You Can." Perhaps like in the movie they will let him out and he will do some good after spending some time in the slammer.
Trust me, I have AS and spend time around a lot of people with it (try 12 of them). Mental capacities within the condition vary greatly. However, across the board, social norms most of us take for granted are torments to people with AS. Many (including myself at times) isolate themselves because of the stress social situations can cause. This drives many to depression, which I would imagine McKinnnon already had to some degree. You can imagine how the threat of spending the rest of your life in prison might exacerbate that.
And that's Asperger's. I know I got away from the main point, but I like to educate as much as I can.
McKinnon sought notariety and now seems to hiding behind his "condition." True or False.
Before I sign petitions, accuse the British High Court of wrongdoing, and my own government of inhumanity I would like more facts. I am also confident that if brought to the United States, it will be hard to bury Mr. McKinnon in a prison for years. We will know he is here, the lawyers will know it, the press will know it, and President Obama will know it. I worry far more about the complete innocents picked up at airports in the US because they had Arab names and still languish in US prisons: quite literally lost in the system.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4PkNPCEnJM
If extradited, Mr. McKinnon is not stripped of his legal rights. He will then be tried in the US courts. I doubt he will lack for competent legal representation given the high profile of the case. He has not been given 70 years. He has not even been tried. Who knows, he may be given two if he tells the military how he did it.
But it is far more dangerous to think that a particular affection for those committing the acts excuses the illegality of them. We now have two recent cases where my first reaction has been that governments are being overbearing and overreaching in the application of such law. The first was the Swiss willingness to ensnare Mr. Polanski forty years later despite allowing him to invest heavily in Swiss real estate and to go back and forth unfettered all these years. And, we even have the victim pleading to release him (some $500,000 in compensation later). The second is that of Mr. McKinnon the dazzling computer hacker. My first reaction was let them both free: they are men of exceptional talent and surely understand they should not repeat their acts. And then, I realized what a dangerous conclusion that was. Is talent or exceptional intelligence to be an excuse for committing serious crimes? Worse, should we then compensate such people for fear they will repeat the crime as Ms. Smiley suggests?
What's your IP address, your username and password? Don't worry, it'll be harmless.
I think we can agree that both the British Government, and our own, are usually committed to the rule of law. Certainly, as a liberal democrat, I feel more comfortable with that statement now that President Obama is in the White House. However, such a belief does not mean that we can apply such law on a random basis. As a lawyer, I recognize that I don’t always like the result on a personal basis, but how dangerous to think that my personal opinion in a given case would control the legal process. First, I am not sure any of us know enough about Mr. McKinnon’s case to “rush to judgment” on the legal system in which he now finds himself. My first attack would be on the British legal system if they are so willing to extradite a citizen of theirs if that system feels he would be both inappropriately prosecuted and punished. Great Britain has actually spent a great deal of time and effort on that question as Mr. McKinnon’s case began in 2006 and has been winding it way through their court process for three years.
Final point - the atrocious extradition treaty under which he is being sent to the US is a one-way street - Britain has no similar ability to request extradition for a US citizen to stand trial for hacking into a British government system. The treaty was one more miserable sellout by Tony Blair - who may yet be extradited to the Hague.
People are fired for this type of performance in the private sector. There is just no accountability in our government for their blunders.
There are instances where the government actions have been incompetent but your statement and dismissal is simply not supported by your very short list of examples.
No solution for health care
No solution for immigration problem
nothing done yet on global warming
no capture of Bin laden
asleep at the wheel regarding our economy and regulation of financial sector = caused the current financial crisis
now involving us in a useless war in Afghanistan
and I could go on.
poor protection of consumer rights
That being said. this guy belongs in prison. He knowingly committed this crime. Did he really think he would fail to feel the repercussion of his acts?
Should the military capitalize on his success at breaching security protocol? Certainly.
But let Gary McKinnon off? I think not.
Murderers here in Callifornia can get out in 5 years (sometimes less).
But a computer hacker? Evil!