Britain Blocks Hacker's US Extradition on Human Rights Grounds

[CCountZero]

Would you prosecute a man with tourettes for swearing at a police officer?

This is essentially the same thing taken to the nth degree. This guy genuinely had no understanding of his actions because he does not understand the world in the same way other people would. Extraditing a mentally ill man who had no understanding of his situation to a foreign country would be wrong.

Personally I don't think he should be tried for the crime in the UK either. It's not about precedent, it's about having a decent amount of compassion towards a mentally ill human being whose been stuck in legal limbo for TEN years.

Also nice to see the government grow a pair over extradition. Now can we please sort out the ridiculous treaty brought in in a rush for TERRORISTS. Not as it's currently used, for anyone the USA feels like.

First of all, I'd like to point out, not to you specifically, that calling Aspergers a disability, is complete BS.

Sure, there are drawbacks, most of which involve not being as comfortable around other people, especially in groups of three-four or more.
But there's also a fat load of upsides, and one of the best ones is a higher-than-average intelligence.

I've dealt with a lot of people with Aspergers over the years, and one of the few traits that they've all shared, is a very well-developed sense of right and wrong, especially from a moral standpoint.
I say few, because they're just as different from each other as neurotypicals, or "normals" if you will.
An autistic diagnosis does not have anything to do with amorality. It's fairly common for us to lack some empathy, but that's not the same as not knowing right from wrong.

If my personal experience is anything to go by, this guy knew exactly what he was doing. He just used his highly-developed moral compass, and reached the conclusion that what he was doing was right.

As for the whole extradition thing, I think it should be clear to anyone who's familiar with the autistic spectrum that no autistic belongs in a general population. It would be cruel and unusual punishment, possibly bordering on torture. Hell, 98% of us might well prefer solitary confinement, if anything.

Of course, it could also be that fellow inmates would treat him in a less than humane way, inside the walls.

I'll finish by adding that I don't have much in the way of admiration for the American prison system, nor legal system, nor political system. So yeah.

 

[dyre]

aww, so we don't get to shove him indefinitely into some CIA black site?

j/k, good to see the British government showing some spine

Fine, try him in the UK then. So long as we're not mistakenly under the assumption that you can hack Pentagon computers and get off with absolutely no repercussions just because you have a disorder.

Yeah, those UFO files could be used against America to steal freedom or something.

Maybe even copy the Big Mac secret sauce.


They should hire the guy if he managed to break into the fucking Pentagon.

Either that, or their system is fucking awful.

IIRC, the system actually wasn't even password protected.

 

[dyre]

snip

To be fair, you can also blame the Dulles brothers for a lot of that Mossadegh business. They were the ones who actually convinced Eisenhower that the Iranians were some kind of communist threat.

Also, you forgot to mention him ordering the CIA backed coup in Guatemala

 

[Charli]

Did he actually "hack" anything though, or did he walk right on in through their pathetically piss-poor "security"?

If memory serves, it was this. Had he actually TAKEN information or maliciously screwed up their system in a way, I'm sure the sentence would read differently.

U.S. listen, we're grown ups, we can punish our own kids, the only reason we made a fuss about it is that you walked in and proclaimed yourself the head of the punishment police and cried that he peeked under your skirt, that's what we were a little miffed about, you can still tell us what he did and why he's a naughty boy, but we'd like to be able to dole out punishment to our citizens. It's a question of dignity when our criminals have to be sent to you to be punished. Thaaaat kinda sucks some of our authority away on the home pitch doesn't it?

This does not equate to - 'gets off scott free', I doubt he's going to be allowed near an internet connection without severe watch from his provider and the government EVER again after he serves whatever sentence he's given.

And your embassy is the one who should be overseeing the trial to ensure that no foul play is taking place and if you feel the punishment is not sufficient to argue and debate it with the British court system.

 

[Kopikatsu]

This actually is one case where the defendant should be extradited to the US, because his crime involves the US rather heavily.

We have suicide watch in our prisons. Just stick him in a straight jacket and he'll be fine.

You also execute the retarded... I would try to commit suicide at EVERY opportunity if I was told I were to be imprisoned in America and I am entirely sound of mind. Your prison system is a disgrace and hopefully this embarrassment causes reform.

Actually, inmates on death row are forced to take three separate mental competency exams under the supervision of three separate state-certified psychiatrists a few days before they're slated to be executed. If they fail even one, then they're declared mentally incompetent and cannot be executed. (This is for both intelligence and sanity)

Which is stupid and a huge waste of both time and resources, but whatever.

 

[Eri]

I love all the people here who say he had no idea what he was doing. Bullshit. BULLSHIT.

You can't "accidentally" hack a government computer, let alone almost 100 of them. This isn't like he got into a car and by chance hit a pedestrian and he couldn't help it. Again, you can't just "accidentally" hack a computer.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

Awesome! I wish there were more good precedents like this being set.

 

[disgruntledgamer]

Only the US would demand the Extradition of a mentally ill person to face prosecution.

 

[Olrod]

I love all the people here who say he had no idea what he was doing. Bullshit. BULLSHIT.

You can't "accidentally" hack a government computer, let alone almost 100 of them. This isn't like he got into a car and by chance hit a pedestrian and he couldn't help it. Again, you can't just "accidentally" hack a computer.

It's like "hacking" someone's Facebook... when they walk away form the computer leaving themselves logged in.

 

[Risingblade]

Does this mean we can finally stop being allies with Britain? Yay

 

[Meatspinner]

What does that guy's face remind me of?

Spoiler: Patrick Swayze?

OT: Good job Britain. You have balls.
I like balls

 

[Terramax]

snip

Wow, many thanks for that. After all the complaints that these forums are nothing more than rant campaigns, it's great to read a post from someone whom wants to share knowledge to us ignorant folk. Many thanks for the info.

 

[Savryc]

About time. I'm sick and tired of our government assuming the position every time America comes around but getting the middle finger whenever we need someone. Case in point Steven Greenoe. Smuggles guns into UK, you know, an actual crime, many of which were confirmed to have been used in fatal shootings. Refused extradition to the UK and sentenced to only 10 years.

Kid "hacks" into "pentagon" and America spends 10 years trying to get him shipped over for potentially 60 years all because he wants to see some UFO's. I'd be willing to bet if the media wasn't involved they'd have just up and snatched him.

Stay classy US Gov.

 

[Something Amyss]

How many seconds after you read "UFO" did you start waiting to read insanity defense?
Not saying belief in UFO's is crazy, but this guy might be

The guy has aspergers, an autism spectrum disorder. He's probably just extremely fixated on the concept. Very common with ASD.

 

[Zombie_Moogle]

How many seconds after you read "UFO" did you start waiting to read insanity defense?
Not saying belief in UFO's is crazy, but this guy might be

The guy has aspergers, an autism spectrum disorder. He's probably just extremely fixated on the concept. Very common with ASD.

That's possible. I know a number of people who are diagnosed ASD; most are perfectly rational, functioning adults. One of my oldest friends has Aspergers. Great gal.
Then there's a woman I went to school with years back, who's grasp on reality seems a bit tenuous; this other woman seems to have a hard time distinguishing logical application of her beliefs & ideas.

 

[BrotherRool]

It's nice that the government has finally stopped acting as if we had an open-border with the US. There's only so many people you can abduct from our country with extraordinary extradition before we stop sending you depressive with mental difficulties who made your computer defense look silly almost by accident. It'd be a miscarriage if this guy ending up killing himself in a US prison

 

[AnarchistFish]

I'm confused, the guy hacks into the Pentagon, and because he MAY kill himself if extradited due to his disorder that extradition is denied, and the main response is "Good, the government finally made the right decision"? How is this a good thing?

Perhaps I'm just too ignorant on the history of this, but I don't see why him avoiding extradition is supposed to be a good thing, especially considering the argument used to deny it. I don't foresee good things coming out of this precedent. Can someone clear this for me?

Basically

we're pleased this government isn't licking the USA's arse for once

That's pretty much it

 

[AnarchistFish]

Also I'm not sure why people seem to be getting the impression that he's been "let off". I'm pretty sure the decision was just that they wouldn't extradite him for fear that he'd commit suicide if sent to the US.