Florida's Whistleblower Covid-19 Data Manager Arrested Today (tampabay.com) 121
The state of Florida's former Covid-19 data manager was arrested today.
After her firing in May of 2020, Rebekah Jones had become a critic of the state's publicly-available information, even setting up her own online dashboard of Covid-19 case data. The state suspected her of being the person who'd illegally accessed the state's emergency alert health system in December to urge Health Department employees to speak up about the coronavirus, and state police obtained a warrant for a raid on her home during which they'd seized her computers and cellphones.
Jones later called the raid a "sham" to retaliate against her for not altering the state's COVID-19 data. This weekend on Twitter, Jones emphasized that the police found zero evidence during their raid to connect her to that message. She also argues that the newer allegation "was issued the day after a Tallahassee judge told police that if they're not investigating a crime, they had to return my equipment."
During that raid "police did find documents I received/downloaded from sources in the state, or something of that nature..." Jones posted Saturday. "[I]t isn't clear at this point what exactly they're saying I had that I shouldn't have had, but an agent confirmed it has nothing to do with the subject of the warrant."
The Tampa Bay Times reports: Jones announced Saturday on Twitter that she learned of the warrant and plans to turn herself in on Sunday. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement confirmed there is a warrant for Jones' arrest but said it cannot disclose what charges she faces until she is in custody.
Agency spokesman Gretl Plessinger said in an email to the Tampa Bay Times that "agents have been working with her attorney to have her turn herself in..."
Jones said she and her attorney were not told what she's being prosecuted for, just that she faces one criminal charge...
"The agent told my lawyer there would be only one charge," Jones tweeted on Saturday, "but emphasized that speaking out or going to the media may result in police 'stacking' additional charges."
UPDATE (1/18/2021): Monday in court prosecutors asked that Jones be banned from the internet, and be required to wear a GPS monitor — but a judge rejected the request (according to a local news report cited by the Orlando Sentinel). The warrant alleges that on Nov. 10, Jones downloaded a file equivalent to between 600 and 700 sheets of paper, containing contact information for about 19,182 Floridians. The file contained names, organizations, titles, home counties as well as personal phone numbers and emails, the warrant states.
On her Twitter account, Jones said the charge was retaliation for her criticisms of the state's COVID-19 response and claimed the charge had nothing to do with the original search warrant at her home last month...
The agency said the message was sent from an IP address that matched Jones' address, according to the warrant. Agents seized a desktop computer from Jones' home during the search, and a forensic analysis revealed she downloaded the file containing the information, the warrant reads.
The charge is a third-degree felony.
After her firing in May of 2020, Rebekah Jones had become a critic of the state's publicly-available information, even setting up her own online dashboard of Covid-19 case data. The state suspected her of being the person who'd illegally accessed the state's emergency alert health system in December to urge Health Department employees to speak up about the coronavirus, and state police obtained a warrant for a raid on her home during which they'd seized her computers and cellphones.
Jones later called the raid a "sham" to retaliate against her for not altering the state's COVID-19 data. This weekend on Twitter, Jones emphasized that the police found zero evidence during their raid to connect her to that message. She also argues that the newer allegation "was issued the day after a Tallahassee judge told police that if they're not investigating a crime, they had to return my equipment."
During that raid "police did find documents I received/downloaded from sources in the state, or something of that nature..." Jones posted Saturday. "[I]t isn't clear at this point what exactly they're saying I had that I shouldn't have had, but an agent confirmed it has nothing to do with the subject of the warrant."
The Tampa Bay Times reports: Jones announced Saturday on Twitter that she learned of the warrant and plans to turn herself in on Sunday. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement confirmed there is a warrant for Jones' arrest but said it cannot disclose what charges she faces until she is in custody.
Agency spokesman Gretl Plessinger said in an email to the Tampa Bay Times that "agents have been working with her attorney to have her turn herself in..."
Jones said she and her attorney were not told what she's being prosecuted for, just that she faces one criminal charge...
"The agent told my lawyer there would be only one charge," Jones tweeted on Saturday, "but emphasized that speaking out or going to the media may result in police 'stacking' additional charges."
UPDATE (1/18/2021): Monday in court prosecutors asked that Jones be banned from the internet, and be required to wear a GPS monitor — but a judge rejected the request (according to a local news report cited by the Orlando Sentinel). The warrant alleges that on Nov. 10, Jones downloaded a file equivalent to between 600 and 700 sheets of paper, containing contact information for about 19,182 Floridians. The file contained names, organizations, titles, home counties as well as personal phone numbers and emails, the warrant states.
On her Twitter account, Jones said the charge was retaliation for her criticisms of the state's COVID-19 response and claimed the charge had nothing to do with the original search warrant at her home last month...
The agency said the message was sent from an IP address that matched Jones' address, according to the warrant. Agents seized a desktop computer from Jones' home during the search, and a forensic analysis revealed she downloaded the file containing the information, the warrant reads.
The charge is a third-degree felony.
Demand Jury trial! (Score:5, Insightful)
Demand Jury trial!
Just asking regarding juries... (Score:1)
Unamerican here.
Aren't juries really easy to staff entirely with your own people, if you are a government?
Re: (Score:3)
https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/jury-selection-criminal-cases.html
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:3)
Judges can, and do, reject jury members "for cause". I can find no sign of any limit on such rejections, though an appeals court may justify overturning a verdict if bias in jury selection is too apparent. Such causes include but are not limited to seeing or reading pre-trial information about the case, being related to either party, or demonstrating bias during pre-trial interviews
Re:Just asking regarding juries... (Score:4, Interesting)
Im not entirely sure how the US system works (I'm australian), but my understanding from US Lawyer friends is , generally speaking the judge will turn you away if you start banging on about how you've already decided the accused is guilty, or start saying racist junk or whatever.
When I worked in the courts in australia, Jurors will do that because they really dont want to be on the Jury. Judges are generally fine with that and dismiss the juror to stop the lawyers from having to waste an objection (usually they only get a limited number of objections) on someone who doesnt want to be there. Its an everybody wins arangement.
Re:Just asking regarding juries... (Score:4, Interesting)
It's really not "everybody wins". It tends to leave juries poor or unemployed, people who are "unable to get out of jury duty". And it tends to leave juries free to spend their limited pool of rejections on what can be dangerous factors such as race, age, gender, income, or education. It also prevents people who are already educated about the law, especially people aware of "jury nullification" and the limits on a judge's authority, from ever serving on juries.
My experience is juries are retirees and students. (Score:3)
The problem with that is old folks tend to be more fearful and conservative, and therefore more likely to convict.
Re: (Score:1)
Which is why Jury duty needs to be much more compulsory. Right now if you get tossed from a jury during Voir dire in a lot of courts you go back the jury pool for some period of time. Really we should make that time equal to the 5 business days it is now or until the first trial you were selected for concludes whichever is longer. That way intentionally trying to get yourself tossed can only result in more lost time (possibly a lot more, you get selected for a long trial on the very last day of your first l
Re: (Score:2)
> If someone really does not want to risk being on jury they should be permitted to withdraw their voter registration for a period of not less than 6 years.
If we're going to have _fantasies_, what about mandatory federal service such as is required in Switzerland or Israel? Many college students today, and when I was younger, would benefit from 2 years of being _forced_ to get up and compelled to do their chores, rather than "taking mental health days" because they stayed up too late on their phones the
Re: (Score:2)
To be brutally honest. I'd rather abolish Juries altogether. They are absolutely useless at the task.
I worked under a District court judge that did a LOT of pedo cases (Its a really common offense, you dont hear much about it because its so common its not really news) and the juries where chaos. Sometimes a blatantly guilty perp would go free because the lawyer had hit the evidence with a chainsaw during pre-trial. Sometimes a clearly innocent person goes free because the cops had a vendetta on the guy and
Re: (Score:2)
No? Seems fair to me. Your business and ability to work a job depend fairly directly on the legal system working. That includes people performing jury duty.
Re: (Score:2)
Well, for the guy in front of me in the jury pool, he was turned away after he answered a question about whether he was friends with or knew any police, by saying "just the ones that arrested me".
Re: (Score:2)
If I was a defence lawyer I was absolutely want that guy in the jury because he likely has a built in anti cop inclination that works well for the defense.
I figure that'd be why the judge would turn him away.
Re: (Score:2)
The judge, especially in federal court, is a member of "the government". I'm afraid there is no limit on the number of jurors a judge may reject for any cause they deem relevant: US judges have a great deal of authority over their own courtrooms. It can also be very difficult, and _very_ expensive, to get a jury verdict overturned for abuses by the judge. One such case was https://the-journal.com/articl... [the-journal.com]. where the judge described the case as a cold-blooded murder before it was heard but after the trial o
Re: (Score:2)
While the judge is technically part of the government, he still has no control over who is randomly chosen to replace the guy he just kicked out. It would make for a very interesting story in the newspapers if the judge just keeps kicking people out until he has a jury that will give the 'right' verdict. He can replace a couple of people; beyond that he'd better have a good reason.
Re: (Score:2)
It's been commonplace to various extents at various times. Even subtle bias has been demonstrated in later analysis.
https://www.themarshallproject... [themarshallproject.org]
Re: (Score:3)
Re: Just asking regarding juries... (Score:2)
A jury may have the power of nullification, but they don't have the right.
Re: (Score:2)
What's the difference? The jury can reach whatever verdict it wants and I'm not sure there's any punishment outside of existing jury misconduct, none of which includes nullification by unanimous verdict.
Saying they don't have the right is kind of an empty statement since the effectively do have the right because there's no means of stopping it.
My guess is that widespread "jury nullification" would go nowhere, though, as judges can set aside jury verdicts. I'd also suggest what little of it apparently goes
One of the big MP3 trials (Score:2)
I remember a trial I was on where a woman said, in the same breath, that we cannot allow our feelings to sway our decision and we must get this man off the streets.
Re: (Score:1)
Laws are passed by elected officials chosen by the public. While yes the jury should also be members of the public its really not for and handful of people on a jury to decide for example possession of schedule 2 controlled substances should not be a crime. I am not totally against nullification but it probably should stay in the same realm of cases where prosecutorial discretion also is often applied.
Sure you jumped in that car that was left running and took off in it. It might technically be GTA but some
Re: (Score:2)
Jury Nullification is also how black people were lynched in the south and never convicted by a white jury.
Jury Nullification is a double edged sword and those that dismiss the potential for abuse simply disregard the danger it presents to democratic societies law and order.
Re:Just asking regarding juries... (Score:4, Interesting)
This is one of the biggest problems with Jury members today, they all think they have some right to be Judge or dictate what is right or wrong and what laws are good or bad.
John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, agrees that the jury does in fact, have the power to judge the law:
It may not be amiss, here, Gentlemen, to remind you of the good old rule, that on questions of fact, it is the province of the jury, on questions of law, it is the province of the court to decide. But it must be observed that by the same law, which recognizes this reasonable distribution of jurisdiction, you have nevertheless a right to take upon yourselves to judge of both, and to determine the law as well as the fact in controversy. On this, and on every other occasion, however, we have no doubt, you will pay that respect, which is due to the opinion of the court: For, as on the one hand, it is presumed, that juries are the best judges of facts; it is, on the other hand, presumable, that the court are the best judges of the law. But still both objects are lawfully, within your power of decision.
Now, you who are so quick to call others "fuckwit", did you even know who John Jay was, and do you think that you or your piddly little municipal or district judge is up to his caliber of jurisprudence? No, the problem is that ignorant fuckers LIKE YOU, who don't have the first fucking clue about the history of the legal system or how things work in the legal world, are up there making decisions up there that you in no way are qualified to make.
Re: (Score:2)
Took days of persauding and instructions from the Judge to explain she doesn't get to be a judge, she just gets to decide what is true.
False. Our educational system has failed you.
Re:Demand Jury trial! (Score:4, Insightful)
"Can't disclose charges against her until she's in custody".
That's a good one.
Re: (Score:2)
That's a good one.
Yeah, I noticed that and thought - WTF is that supposed to mean, seriously???
Re:Demand Jury trial! (Score:4, Insightful)
Also, if she speaks with the media, she'll have additional charges added. That's not suspicious at all!
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
In Florida -- where any jury is likely going to be 100% MAGA -- she's better off with a bench trial.
Re: Demand Jury trial! (Score:3)
Says he guy who openly advocated murdering multiple people, not more than 3 hours ago?
Yeah, ... exactly what you're thinking right now...
Re: (Score:1)
So, the myth that blue states are now following the law means that red states can ignore law and order as well? This is not a stupid football game, this is real stuff.
Silly girl (Score:5, Insightful)
She should've known US citizens who do the right thing for their fellow countrymen and their country should book a one-way ticket to Moscow these days.
Re:Silly girl (Score:5, Interesting)
Since she only ticked off Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, and not the Feds, she could have gained a lot of protection just by relocating to a different state.
Re:Silly girl (Score:5, Insightful)
Since she only ticked off Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, and not the Feds, she could have gained a lot of protection just by relocating to a different state.
Probably, there is no vindictiveness that compares to that of a politician whose rank incompetence has been publicly exposed. On the plus side, this is probably going to damage Ron DeSantis way more than if he had just let it slide. Somebody should have filled DeSantis in on the Streisand effect.
Re:Silly girl (Score:5, Interesting)
On the plus side, this is probably going to damage Ron DeSantis way more than if he had just let it slide.
You forgot the Florida Man factor. DeSantis used racist dog whistle language (seriously, he actually said "monkey this up", because his opponent was a black man), and ran campaign ads depicting his children building a toy southern border wall. You can't make this shit up.
To add even further insult to the sad state this state is in, there's MAGA protesters doing their protest thing, who clearly don't seem to understand that no one in Florida is responsible for Trump's re-election loss (Florida is a winner-take-all state, so all 29 electoral votes went in Trump's bin). The concept of reality is completely out-of-whack in Florida. I wouldn't be surprised if DeSantis still wins a second term. After all, it's Florida, man.
Re:Silly girl (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah, the fact that his opponent was under a multi-year investigation by the FBI for ethics violations prior to, during, and after the campaign [tallahassee.com] (an opponent who BTW was recently found naked and inebriated in a South Beach hotel room with a known male prostitute surrounded by drug paraphernalia and another person who had OD'd [tallahassee.com]) had nothing to do with DeSantis' victory.
Maybe if the Democrats hadn't run a corrupt junkie as their candidate they'd hold the FL governor's mansion right now.
Re: (Score:3)
Maybe if the Democrats hadn't run a corrupt junkie as their candidate they'd hold the FL governor's mansion right now.
Ya, how dare the Democrats run such an unsavoury candidate? It's like they are trying to steal the Republican's playbook or something. 8^)
https://www.washingtonpost.com... [washingtonpost.com]
https://time.com/5447854/accus... [time.com]
She was fired from her job (Score:5, Insightful)
I'd like to see the feds move in and investigate. When the local police are crooked usually the only hope is the next level up.
Re: (Score:1)
Mismanaged? Then why did the former NYS Dem Party head get vaccinated — in Florida [nypost.com].
Re: (Score:2)
The article you link doesn't say one way or the other but I got the impression that Sullivan didn't go to Florida just to get the vaccination. He has a residence in Florida and is described a "snowbird" so I assume he was already down there for the winter.
It also makes sense that if you have a limited supply of vaccinations that you would give what you have to the front line workers first.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Silly girl (Score:5, Insightful)
Thats not always possible. People have entire lives in the places they live. Parents, family, friends, various obligations.
Its usually easier to move about when your young, but once you get to a certain age, the roots really set in and it can be hard to move.
I know here in Australia whenever they talk about unemployment people start going on about "Well why not move to the country where the farmers need people to work as fruit pickers", and , like, no dude most of these unemployed folks are 45+ years old and sometimes significantly older , have children or even grandchildren, mortgages, obligrations, assets and aren't going to just move to the country to work $20 on minimum wages an hour doing backbreaking work better suited to a young and fitter person when if they just hold on a few more weeks they'll be back on $80 an hour doing stuff they are actually qualified for,
Its just not a reasonable request , and honestly I suspect many people would be thinking "Why should I run, when I can man up, and keep fighting where I run?"
Re: (Score:1)
That would be trump. He will join snowden who did NOT do the right things.
"There are four lights!!" (Score:1)
I'm sure Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity (Score:5, Insightful)
And I'm sure reddit's Conservative forums will be full of people denouncing this sort of Government overreach, just like they were when the raid took place.
Yep, any day now...
Re:I'm sure Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity (Score:5, Insightful)
I dont speak for the conservatives, but clearly:
Authorities hiding or manipulating data to look better, is an attack on democracy.
Abusing power to silence whistleblowers, is an attack on democracy.
As was the closing of Trumps twitter.
Rebehka Jones should be given a medal by the people of Florida.
Whoever is responsible, conservative or not, should be given the boot.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Then fire them all for gross incompetence... I have no sympathy for people withholding data from the voters.
Re: (Score:2)
The problem is you won't hear complaints from the right about this. They're treating her like it's Snowden all over again. Just try scrolling through the comments in this Fox News article [foxnews.com]. They are totally convinced that she did something illegal and should be locked up.
They don't even question whether the data she provided is true or false. Not surprising really, they also think COVID-19 is a hoax, or exaggerated by left wing media, or Democrats, or China, except China is also bad because they gave the vir
Re: (Score:2)
" They'll believe anything as long as it's not their fault."
And that is stupid.
I just reacted to the generalisation that all right leaning people are like that.
I do have a masters degree (CS) and I do know how viruses work.
Should the data she presented prove to be false (which I dont think), then of course its another matter.
As for treating her like Snowden I at first thought you meant "supporting her": Snowden did what he did, for exactly the same reasons: Exposing the authorities abuse of power. As a citi
Re: (Score:3)
I think you bring up some good points, but unfortunately, you and other reasonable Republicans need to be a majority of the party to steer things in the right direction.
I want my side to win of course. But by being better. Not by cheating and lying.
Why do you want your side to win? Wouldn't you rather have good policies win? No matter which side it is, they all have some dumb policies. It'll always suck if we can only choose between 2 different sets of dumb policies.
Re: (Score:2)
Why do you want your side to win? Wouldn't you rather have good policies win? No matter which side it is, they all have some dumb policies. It'll always suck if we can only choose between 2 different sets of dumb policies.
Of course :) I'm certainly not saying we are perfect :)
Re: (Score:2)
As was the closing of Trumps twitter.
Or not? [msnbc.com] Since informed populace is a prerequisite for democracy, if closing one account can slash three fourths of lies, I'd say it was worth it.
Re: (Score:1)
Actually, what the article states is that
Online misinformation about election fraud plunged 73 percent after several social media sites suspended President Trump and key allies last week, research firm Zignal Labs has found, underscoring the power of tech companies to limit the falsehoods poisoning public debate when they act aggressively.
The new research by the San Francisco-based analytics firm reported that conversations about election fraud dropped from 2.5 million mentions to 688,000 mentions across several social media sites in the week after Trump was banned from Twitter.
So not lies as such, just discussions about election fraud. Like Nancy Pelosis.. https://www.foxnews.com/media/... [foxnews.com]
Was there election fraud. Most asuredly from both sides. But from a democracy point of view, its amazing that a 1st world country cannot count its votes on the day of the election. They counted for days, new votes. Makes no sense.
All votes should be received by the end of the election day. Its not like people didnt know the deadline for the election. Its
Re: (Score:2)
The issue is that many states have laws which don't permit counting of mail-in ballots until after the poles have closed. If they were allowed to be counted before the election it would not have dragged in in several states.
It is not difficult to design an electronic system with a paper trail held much the same way we do with ballot boxes today. Mail in voting is a challenge still but most years that's not an issue as we don't have an active pandemic discouraging people from standing in long lines togethe
Re: (Score:2)
So not lies as such, just discussions about election fraud
"Discussions"...which consisted of lies.
Like Nancy Pelosis
That's what Putin wants you to think.
Re: (Score:2)
Fact is, that XH was a solid operation, and Trump was caught for the Russian Asset that he is.
Arrested for refusing to lie. (Score:5, Insightful)
Apparently, someone in charge of the narrative wanted an irony lasagna. Just layers of irony.
All for being outraged at the distant idea of perhaps having to put on masks before going into shared spaces.
Keep in mind - most folks DO wear masks here in Florida. Walmart has an active policy of not letting anyone in without a mask.
Plenty of jerks DO walk in with masks, then either take them off, or do the South Park style chin diaper thing.
The stores absolutely will work to help out anyone that can't wear masks - bring them the groceries, and help them find out what's on the shelves.
But no... gotta have that direct breath on other people to feel real comfortable in the middle of a pandemic.
Which has killed over 400,000 people here, and 2,000,000 worldwide. You might note that we have a huge chunk of the world totals there... yeah, it's because of THIS.
We protest NOT LYING to ourselves, and now arrest people for refusing to take part because it doesn't match with their actual responsibilities. Think about what that means.
Is this what the Tea Party movement considered it's end game - the ideals it was working towards, you think?
Ryan Fenton
Re: (Score:2)
Walmart has an active policy of not letting anyone in without a mask.
They have signs out front saying to need to wear a mask, but the rules are toothless. I've never seen it actually enforced, and frequently see anti-maskers walk right past employees at the entrance without so much as a word. Target also doesn't eject anyone for not wearing a mask, and they have a "use our curbside shopping if you prefer not to wear a mask" recorded spiel which plays over the intercom system.
Realistically, the only thing you can do is give the anti-maskers wide berth. Florida's leadership
Re: (Score:2)
Maybe someone will open a knock-off Tractor Supply Company and institute a No Mask = Shoot On Sight policy. The stand-your-ground laws here basically make it legal to murder anyone who you feel is threatening you. Seems like a lot of anti-vaxxers, Tea partiers, and a lot of other brain-dead hooligans will disappear in short order.
Re: (Score:2)
Seems like a lot of anti-vaxxers, Tea partiers, and a lot of other brain-dead hooligans will disappear in short order.
You're overlooking the fact that most of the nutjobs wandering around with loaded AR15s are....anti-vaxxers, tea partiers etc.
DeSteisand effect (Score:2)
I forget all about Ron DeSantis and then he sticks his knob in it all over again.
"What were they supposed to do? Just ignore it? Of course not," DeSantis said.
It doesn't look like a great PR strategy. Interested to see how this one ends.
Some of this sounds quite Kafka-esque (Score:2)
"Jones said she and her attorney were not told what she's being prosecuted for, just that she faces one criminal charge... "
Admittedly, we're only hearing one side here - so it's possible this isn't completely true.
But I did get a mental picture where two of her prosecutors would stand in front of her, handing a knife back and forth.
drowning, not waving (Score:2)
speaking out or going to the media may result in police 'stacking' additional charges." Good thing then that she only tweeted all about it.
Alternate article (Score:2, Flamebait)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Your are an overt supporter of sedition and propaganda. Your sig is a lie.
Re: (Score:3)
Rebuttal in a comment on that same page: https://tallahasseereports.com... [tallahasseereports.com]
Specifically:
The prosecutor should be publicly executed at once (Score:3, Interesting)
Shit like this needs to be illegal: "but emphasized that speaking out or going to the media may result in police 'stacking' additional charges."
Anyone responsible for this should get the guillotine.
Re: (Score:2)
Proseutorial overreach is a very real problem in the US courts. Poor prosecutors have filed outlandish charges for very real crimes, expecting that the defendant would accept a lesser charge, and cluttered courts with such outrageous charges that prosecutions of genuinely guilty people failed and innocent people have pled guilty to avoid much more serious threatened charges. Even if it's rare, we've seen too many cases wasting the courts' time.
Re:The prosecutor should be publicly executed at o (Score:4, Insightful)
It's NOT rare. It's the norm and literally 98% of cases at the federal level are plead out, with similar numbers at state levels.
Due process has been entirely abandoned. People yak about, "ermagerd, but the courts are backed up!" Well, maybe not all of those people are deserving of prosecution--but we'll never know because they got strong-armed by the government.
If you're convinced they're all guilty, go hire enough people to properly perform due process. Otherwise, admit that we have serious foundational issues with unchecked expansion of legislation and overreach of the courts and prosecution.
Re: (Score:2)
If I might, I'll draw a distinction between filing criminal charges for every genuine criminal act and maximum sentence to convince the accused to accept a lesser plea, and charging the accused with crimes they did not do. One is ordinary tactics: the other is a civil violation, if not a criminal one, though admittedly very difficult to convict people of.
> If you're convinced they're all guilty, go hire enough people to properly perform due process. Otherwise, admit that we have serious foundational issu
Re: (Score:3)
Plea deals shouldn't exist. A defendant is either guilty or not guilty given the available evidence. There's no in-between. They can't be in a quantum superposition of having both committed and not committed a crime. If the prosecution thinks the defendant is guilty but can't get a conviction, then they are either wrong, or they need to come back with more evidence.
If we allow pleas, then we're basically saying, "justice is too hard, so let's use a rough approximation."
Re: (Score:2)
Plea deals shouldn't exist.
10000% this.
In Ireland plea deals are expressly illegal. Prosecutors are required to request a punishment that fits the crime; anything above that is considered coercive and untruthful.
What's worse than allowing plea deals in the US is that plea discussions are not admissible in court. So a prosecutor can say in private that "your debt to society would be repaid by x", while in court, they'll assert than nothing less than 10x + y would satisfy.
Plea deals are an unmitigated disgrace.
It's Sunday night now... what's the charge? (Score:5, Insightful)
These are yesterday's articles. If they wouldn't reveal the charge until she's in custody (which seems a excessive), she's in custody now. So what's the charge? and what country are we living in that whistleblowers get arrested based on warrants without access to the proceedings that led to them? (But they apparently started the search of her house before they actually had the search warrant, and only gave it to her after the fact.)
The biggest difference between her published data and that from the main Florida site is how the percent positive is determined. Florida was found quite some time ago to be manipulating the percent positive by re-testing individuals who have no additional specific exposure. She tried to remove that from the data so that the percent positive was more representative of that being done in the process of test and trace. The problem is that Florida's relaxation of restrictions is based on the low percent positive reported by the department of health. This really smacks of them making something up to take her stuff (an "unauthorized" post to a list whose access credentials were available publicly) and when that didn't work they drum up something else but won't say what it is.
Re:It's Sunday night now... what's the charge? (Score:5, Informative)
Apparently she is being charged for "accessing a computer network or electronic device without authorization".
Re: (Score:2)
At the federal level, that's a 20 year mandatory minimum felony. Don't you love how the penalties are worse than murder, but only when someone does it for the public good, as opposed to violating the public trust (by massive illegal domestic spying)?
Re: (Score:1)
But they allegedly found no evidence of that on the computers or anything else taken during the raid - "Jones emphasized that the police found zero evidence during their raid to connect her to that message".
So this is just pushing a charge with no evidence that she specifically did it, just that the system was accessed from an IP linked to her, but they have no evidence it was specifically her, and specifically the lack of evidence on her systems likely aids a reasonable defence of 'it wasn't me, nor action
Crap, I was afraid of that (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
The judge wasn't very impressed. According the NPR story [npr.org], he set a $2500 bond and said she basically wasn't allowed to access FDOH internal systems, which was already true. i.e. rejected the authorities' ridiculous attempt to get her banned from all internet access and GPS tracked.
This looks a lot like the Florida authorities going fishing and catching a fish. The NPR story mentions them finding data with personal identifying information on her devices. The way one filters out the repeat COVID tests is
Re: (Score:2)
Unauthorized computer access. That's the charge. A message that suspiciously sounds like something she'd say coming from an IP address her ISP tied to her. Warrants a trial. Let the investigation prove them/her wrong. Isn't that how this works?
Re: (Score:3)
Unauthorized computer access. That's the charge. A message that suspiciously sounds like something she'd say coming from an IP address her ISP tied to her. Warrants a trial. Let the investigation prove them/her wrong. Isn't that how this works?
No, not how this works normally.
Normally the governor doesn't suppress facts that might make him look bad. Facts about how many people are dying on his watch. Normally the governor doesn't fire individuals for doing their job and not lying to the public. Normally the person fired doesn't think their job is so damn important that they keep doing it based on public data for free. And normally the governor doesn't send a SWAT team to kick down the door of a mom who's crime seems from any objective viewing to b
Re: (Score:2)
It is completely predictable that she would have some DOH internal documents based on the type of data analysis she was doing. See my other post [slashdot.org]. Yeah she has some previous history, but calling that an "extensive criminal history" is just inflammatory and trying to run your own con. She's not saving the world, and I admit she's being a bit dramatic to draw attention to her cause, but the behavior of the Florida government in this situation is reprehensible.
I hope the Feds come down on this. (Score:5, Insightful)
Ok former Law Enforcement taking this Point by Point
1. Initial search warrant was honestly invalid, and the Judge that issues should be investigated, and have all his judgements come under scrutiny. This being Florida I doubt that will happen at the local level, but might happen after the 20th.
2. The firing should have also gone under Federal scrutiny, and may still do so. If it smells fishy chances are there are fish involved.
3. The Arrest Warrant sounds fishy since they are not releasing the charge which is a matter of public record. Most people that get warrants for their arrest get information released to the press before they are arrested, but there is a good argument for withholding till they make the arrest.
4. If true, and if she has evidence that Law Enforcement Officers told her to be quiet or more charges we be brought. Then that is extortions, and the FBI should investigate and any officers or state officials proven involved in this will go to Federal prison.
5. At some point she will have to explain how she got the info. If someone leaked it to her she is fine, and if she actually hacked the system with or without help then she is screwed. But could get pardoned due to the health risk, and conspiracy she exposed.
Fruit of the Poisonous Tree (Score:1)
Re:I hope the Feds come down on this. (Score:5, Informative)
Happened on a weekend (Score:2)
Hopefully, EFF is all over this (Score:2)
Fall in line (Score:2)
..and never question authority- the mantra of most government entities,
Where's the idiot... (Score:2)
Re: Where's the idiot... (Score:2)
"Better than China" is similar to "better than being flayed alive", insofar as it leaves a lot of room for pretty bloody terrible.
All whistleblowing should be done anonymously. (Score:5, Insightful)
Whistleblowers are punished so they should take time to exhaustively study security.
You cannot trust your government.
You cannot trust your fellow citizens (who are the idiots who elect our government, which has never been good).
Everyone is a potential threat so you should do nothing from your own home and exclusively use burner hardware from distant open wifi.
Things will only get worse as the US decline continues, and continue it will because there is no way to halt the savage idiocracy that's the essence of American culture.
This unfortunate woman is remarkably brave but unless she moves to a liberal state her life is basically over.
After reading this summary.... (Score:3)
Underreporting (Score:2)
Vox populi (Score:2)
Spain immediately files a protest.
What the hell is wrong with Florida? (Score:2)
The US police state is becoming more and more (Score:2)
The US police state is becoming more and more disgusting.
Re: (Score:2)
So here is Claim #4: Florida Republicans are anti-American thugs trying to destroy our constitutional rights.
Re: (Score:2)
Florida is the anti-thesis to fascism.
Florida is anitfa??
Sure that's a sentence I'd never thought I'd see!