Posted on 12/15/2009 11:45:19 AM PST by ShadowAce
I haven't written much about the Terry Childs case recently, mainly because there's not much to tell. Childs is still in jail, his bail is still set at a ridiculous $5 million, and he still hasn't had his day in court. It's been nearly 18 months since his arrest for refusing to hand over administrative passwords to San Francisco's city network.
In that time, three of the four charges against him were dismissed, yet numerous motions for bail reduction have been denied, presumably because the judges are terrified of what they don't understand, and the DA is playing that up. Regardless of what you might think of Childs' culpability in this whole saga, I don't think there's anyone who could think that spending 18 months in a city jail without a trial is in any way a reasonable situation. Anyone involved in this case within the San Francisco city government and prosecutor's office should be deeply ashamed at how this case has (or hasn't) played out.
So what's the holdup? I wish I knew. It's probable that the DA has done no homework on the technical issues in play here and is instead more than willing to use the Frankenstein offense: It's different, so it must be killed. On the other hand, maybe the city did figure out just how ridiculous the whole scenario is but was too far down the line to pull back the reins and is continuing with the prosecution just to save face.
But almost guaranteed is the fact that the DA wants this to fade into obscurity and then get it over with. In the meantime, Terry Childs will spend yet another Christmas in jail.
But this Christmas may be different from the last -- opening statements in the case are set to begin on Monday, and reportedly Gavin Newsom, the mayor of San Francisco, will be called as a witness. You may recall that Childs gave the passwords to Newsom shortly after being incarcerated. That will certainly be some interesting testimony.
If you've been following this case at all, you'll recall that in the summer of 2008, this blog was filled with speculation regarding public statements made by the city and the general lack of a technical foundation. It then proceeded to get worse, with some comments seemingly made up out of whole cloth, put forth by those who lacked even a basic level of understanding of the technical nature of the case. The "1,100 modems" comment certainly comes to mind. That's died down considerably, probably because they would've had to hire a fiction writer to keep up the initial pace.
Not that the constitution means anything anymore, but...
Amendment 6
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial...
Exactly. This situation sucks, whether you are sympathetic to Childs or not.
He could simply give up the passwords and walk out of jail. I sense he is hiding something.
Gay kiddy porn?
Don’t you Americans have a 5th Amendment that absolutely allows this man not to self-incriminate?
Why isn’t he as free as a bird?
From the article above:
You may recall that Childs gave the passwords to Newsom shortly after being incarcerated.It sounds to me like something else is going on
Yes.
Childs was the administrator of a number of network devices that critical state systems used.
He had signed an employment agreement that specified that the passwords that he had access to could only be disclosed to another network administrator who had signed the same agreement or the mayor.
One day his immediate supervisor, a non-technical person, demanded that Childs give him the passwords. Childs said no, he could only give them to another trusted admin (and there wasn't one) or the mayor.
The police were summoned and Childs was arrested. Shortly afterwards the mayor went to see him and Childs gave Mayor Newsom the passwords.
Childs is currently in jail awaiting trial for doing what he was required to do. This is a case of management having an overinflated sense of their authority.
Did he do stupid and give up his right to a speedy trial?
Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing about 80% of San Franciscans in jail, but our Constitution is more important than a bunch of gay, lesbian, and druggie side show freaks.
Sadly, Frisco is a beautiful city, too
Freaks and hairys
dykes and faeries
tell me
where is sanity
Every admin should be scared about this. We’re in deep do-do if he gets convicted on the remaining count.
... if the government feels like letting him have it. See Kevin Mitnick, the hacker who spent four and a half years in pre-trial confinement, eight months of it in solitary confinement.
If only I’d known I was “part of the problem” in the 60’s, when I would hitch hike to the Haight to party with my Cousins! LOL
They sure have ruined it though.
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