Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Patriot Act Problems

More of this stuff to follow.

A 16-y.o. is (in essence) kidnapped by the Feds.

UPDATE: See Combox for the actual story (scroll down to the link).

It was more fun the other way, but hey! Happy to note that the justice system works the way it should...

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

So what exactly do you want the police agencies to do when someone makes repeated bomb threats?

Dad29 said...

There are a large number of variables, but let's focus on what we think we know about this particular case.

We have a 16-y-o kid. The investigation COULD take place with him in the LOCAL slammer. Since he's a citizen, he COULD have legal representation. The f*&^ing FBI bozos COULD actually talk to the mother--or the attorney.

You know, like civilized people typically do.

The FBI COULD verify the alibi without hauling the kid 200 miles, incommunicando. And they certainly CAN unpack the hard-disk info faster than a week, or two...

Just for starters....

Amy said...

If the kid didn't make bomb threats, and has an alibi, there's no reason he should be held.

There's something more going on here that has to do with the FBIs screw ups and not the actions of the 16 year old.

As for that mother, she's a whole hell of a lot calmer than I would be.

Anonymous said...

How about we discuss what we actually "do" know shall we? Multiple calls were traced to the boys computer. Those calls were interstate. Those calls were bomb threats.

Now he may have the Pope, Obama, and every single citizen of the state of Indiana as eyewitnesses to his exact wereabouts at the time of every call but we DONT know that.

We DO know that for every call recieved there are 3 distinct Felonies.

And we DO know that his mommy says he is innocent. Well shoot, why are they still holding him? I mean certainly Mommies NEVER say their boys are innocent and when they do that should certainly trump evidence.

Dumb ass

Dad29 said...

Actually, we ONLY know that it was his IP address--not HIS computer.

And alibis are easy to check. Even if you have to call the Pope. Shouldn't take more than 2 days if the vaunted FBI is doing the work.

Prison--incommunicando--in Indiana?

Priceless!!

Anonymous said...

They should also be able to tell if his IP was hijacked. It's pretty easy to do.

Display Name said...

Thus the flimsy nature of IP address as infallible personal identifier. Some ISPs as large as ATT shipped modems with WiFi turned on, encrypted with the serial number of the unit. Someone could've guessed the encryption key based on serial numbers of other units in the area. Or if it was older WEP encryption, it can be cracked in less than a half-hour. Or if they installed their own WiFi, maybe they left it unsecured. Maybe they secured it but told a friend the password when they visited. Presto, someone in the neighborhood or a parked car is using your IP address. Or perhaps the ISP didn't correctly record the DHCP addresses they handed out. Or maybe the timestamp was incorrect on one of the servers involved in all that, and servers are far more likely to be off by hours and not minutes, or perhaps some other error occurred in the process. Or maybe the kid's computer was infected with bot software, allowing someone on the outside to send info as if it came from his computer. Yes, it'll take a long time for them to scan his hard drive for evidence - evidence that could very well introduce the possibility that he wasn't responsible.

Dad29 said...

Yup.

Personally, I think it's the 'some pal has the key' OR the 'bot' possibilities, but the server-problem certainly is a good possibility.

But hey, it's only civil liberties.

Anonymous said...

Are'nt you leaving out the possibility that the boy made the bomb threats?

Dad29 said...

How LONG will it take to verify his alibi?

Nobody discounts that out-of-hand. But the draconian BS is out of control here.

Anonymous said...

Prosecuters do not verify alibis. That's the defense attourneys job. The prosecuter ensures enough evidence is available to get an arrest warrant. The Judge evaluates the evidence and issues an arrest warrant if enough evidence is presented. The suspect (and that is what he is) does have access to a lawyer, does have the charges presented at booking, has had access to his mommy and does have access to higher courts to appeal the warrant if HE can present enough information to invalidate the materials presented to the judge.

I know none of this fits your little "black helicopters snatched a toddler from his mommy's arms" legal theories but sometimes suspects and their mothers lie. Deal with it.

Dad29 said...

Actually, INVESTIGATING folks 'verify' alibis--in this case, the FBI.

Gee. None of the facts given in the story (that's all we have to go on...) fit your neat little fairytale (access to a lawyer, ...) because, Dumbass, there has BEEN no "booking."

You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts.

Anonymous said...

OK, how about this http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/05/teenage-bomb-threat-suspect-%20was-an-internet-prank-phone-call-star/

Looks like your poor little innocent baby has a known track record of making bomb threats to close schools in exchange for money.

In addition the US Attourney has verified that the accused has an attourney, has had court hearings, and mommy did not bother showing up for two of them.

Also confirmed that NO patriot act statutes were needed for this liitle piece of crap.

Would you be so "understanding" if the bomb threats he was making was directed at your childrens schools?

Sorry, I forgot. Mommy says her baby boy did not do it.

Dad29 said...

Glad to post your update, and I'll note it on the original blogpost.

You could have put it in your first entry...