Whistleblower Hero is Threatened with Prison for Exposing Diebold

Okay, let me get this straight. Stephen Heller, an actor in Los Angeles, was supplementing his income as a temp at a big law firm, Jones Day, two years ago and discovered one of the firm's clients, Diebold, was potentially going to disenfranchise thousands of voters in the next election (what else is new?). So like the good citizen we would all hope to be, Heller provided the Attorney General and Secretary of State with documents that led to the decertification of Diebold touch-screens in California.

In the materials Heller leaked, Jones Day advised Diebold that the company could be subject to criminal prosecution for using uncertified, customized software in the Diebold voting system. Diebold refused to change the software and Jones Day assisted in the cover up. Once this was discovered, via Heller, Secretary of state, Kevin Shelley recommended that Diebold be decertified and prosecuted for fraud. Even though Diebold was decertified they were never prosecuted. Instead it is the patriot, Stephen Heller, who has been charged with three felonies and is being aggressively punished for his courage. Of course, embarrassed as hell, Jones Day, and the big bully, Diebold, waited two years after the election to bring their wrath down on upon this one lone decent man.

One question to ask is whether it is a crime to attempt to stop a crime? In this case, Stephen Heller deserves a medal of gratitude instead of jail. We can not keep letting these bullies diminish our democracy. Read this post by Peter Soby Jr. for more in-depth details and how we can help Stephen Heller.