Is anyone really surprised by this turn of events? I thought it was common knowledge that the DOJ is irredeemably corrupt, that they don't care about the rights of their citizens (let alone human rights outside our borders) and that they cannot be trusted with anything.
I always thought everyone knew that neither the FBI/NSA with their massive domestic spying campaigns, the DEA with its fallacious war on drugs, nor local police with their rampant violence (esp. towards minorities) can or should ever be trusted.
Did people really not expect this outcome?
Civil forfeiture really should have made the case that law enforcement is nothing but crooks and scoundrels.
>I thought it was common knowledge that the DOJ is irredeemably corrupt,
That is essentially the opposite of the common knowledge of the DOJ. In the legal world, they are seen as very good lawyers who only take on cases they can win. They are also civicly minded because they could make WAY more money in private practice.
Sounds like you are treating people who disagree with you on some issues as irredeemably evil.
"Good lawyers who only take on cases they can win" doesn't exclude corruption. They are very talented and they know how to win in court; all you've claimed is that they are powerful, not that they are not corrupt, and in fact usually power and corruption go hand in hand.
And I think it's equally as feasible to suggest they give up the money in private practice for the power, not out of some moral calling. Federal prosecutors/investigators are some of the most powerful people in this country; they can destroy lives at will with a single glance. That is attractive to many kinds of people, some of whom aren't well-meaning selfless volunteers.
If you want civicly minded people look to the public defender's office, that's full of heroes who do the right thing without high pay or wielding enormous power, just the satisfaction of knowing they may have helped save innocent lives.
> In the legal world, they are seen as very good lawyers who only take on cases they can win. They are also civicly minded because they could make WAY more money in private practice.
The legal world. Hah. Like the legal world is seen by the public as any measure of integrity. The DOJ does all sorts of stupid shit like the Aaron Swartz debacle and the public hates them for these sorts of tactics.
They may have meant the various agencies under DOJ (DEA, FBI, ATF, etc.) and not the US Attorney's office, but then again HN often finds plea bargaining irredeemably evil too.
It's not the plea bargaining itself, it is the wide gap. The way to fix that is if someone is offered a plea deal, and doesn't accept it, then put a cap on the max sentence based on the rejected plea bargain. After all, if a prosecutor was fine with someone getting off on 2 months, why is it necessary to try to lock them up for 20 years if the case goes to trial?
Plea bargaining is not irredeemably evil, setting laws so that a plea bargain is the only reasonable course of action even when you're innocent is evil.
Anyone in law enforcement is in the business of destroying lives. They don't protect people (you can't really, in a free society), they punish people after the fact in an attempt to reduce antisocial/immoral/"impure" behavior. Doing their jobs correctly and with moral forthrightness is making absolutely sure the lives they destroy are lives that deserve to be destroyed. But as it turns out they are human and want to keep their jobs so they inevitably focus on "winning" cases -- that is, not failing to destroy lives, rather than being appropriately cautious with the power they are given.
Cartoonish villians? No. It's more the opposite; they think of themselves as cartoonish superheroes and have a hard-on for "punishing the wicked", and often forget that the wicked aren't always so wicked and maybe the extreme and brutal punishment associated with even being touched by the US justice system isn't appropriate -- but why give up a case you can win and tank your career? The guy in the cubicle next door is happy to get the commendation and promotion if you won't take it.
No, Ulbricht screwed himself when he decided to document, in excruciating detail, every event of his life (including all of his crimes).
I'm talking more abstract: Police brutality against anyone poor or black, the FBI's war on hackers by exploiting the vagueness of the CFAA, etc.
Sometimes the DOJ dogs (including federal prosecutors) direct this incredible destructive capability at people who, arguably, deserve it. But not always.
My question wasn't about Ulbricht. It was simply, "Is anyone really surprised that Force (and other agents involved in this case) turned out to be corrupt?" I'm only surprised they're being prosecuted for it. :P
Is anyone really surprised by this turn of events? I thought it was common knowledge that the DOJ is irredeemably corrupt, that they don't care about the rights of their citizens (let alone human rights outside our borders) and that they cannot be trusted with anything.
I always thought everyone knew that neither the FBI/NSA with their massive domestic spying campaigns, the DEA with its fallacious war on drugs, nor local police with their rampant violence (esp. towards minorities) can or should ever be trusted.
Did people really not expect this outcome?
Civil forfeiture really should have made the case that law enforcement is nothing but crooks and scoundrels.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kEpZWGgJks
http://www.copblock.org/