Prenda Tries Yet Another Loophole; But Entirely Plagiarizes Someone Else's Failed Attempt

Bad Week For Carmen Ortiz: Admits To Botched Gang Arrest As Congress Kicks Off Swartz Investigation

from the complete-flops dept

Tue, Jan 29th 2013 11:30am — Mike Masnick

Carmen Ortiz is not having a good month. The US Attorney who was in charge of the ridiculous Aaron Swartz prosecution -- and now has over 50,000 people asking the White House to fire her -- now will have to deal with an official investigation by Congress into that particular case. A bipartisan pair of Congressional representatives, Darrell Issa and Elijah Cummings -- who are basically the top dogs from each party on the House Oversight and Government Reform committee -- have officially kicked off their investigation. They're asking these specific questions:

What factors influenced the decision to prosecute Mr. Swartz for the crimes alleged in the indictment, including the decisions regarding what crimes to charge and the filing of the superseding indictment?
Was Mr. Swartz's opposition to SOPA or his association with any advocacy groups among the factors considered'?
What specific plea offers were made to Mr. Swartz, and what factors influenced the decisions by prosecutors regarding plea offers made to Mr. Swartz?
How did the criminal charges, penalties sought, and plea offers in this case compare to those of other cases that have been prosecuted or considered for prosecution under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act?
Did the federal investigation of Mr. Swartz reveal evidence that he had committed other hacking violations?
What factors influenced the Department's decisions regarding sentencing proposals?
Why was a superseding indictment necessary?

Combine these with the questions already sent by Senator Cornyn, and the DOJ is going to be busy.

But, of course, that's not all that is weighing on Carmen Ortiz. Last week, we noted, she lost a highly questionable case in which it appears she tried to seize a family-owned motel based on some trumped up charges concerning drug deals, even though there weren't that many drug problems there (less than others in the area) and the owners of the motel had worked with law enforcement to try to crack down on them.

And... that's not all. Today there's news of an even bigger embarrassment as it appears that Ortiz had to go to court to admit that her office arrested the wrong man in a gang takedown a few weeks ago. Basically, her office is coming to the conclusion -- weeks later -- that one of the guys arrested may just look like the guy they wanted.

In the latest setback for Boston’s beleaguered U.S. attorney, red-faced feds admit they may have arrested the wrong man during a massive gang and drug takedown two weeks ago because he looked like someone they wanted, after they were forced to tell a judge there was “sufficient doubt” that he was the suspect.

How many screw-ups do you get to make and keep such a job?

2013 01 28 DEI EEC to Holder Re Aaron Schwartz Prosecution (1) (PDF)2013 01 28 DEI EEC to Holder Re Aaron Schwartz Prosecution (1) (Text)

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Filed Under: aaron swartz, botched arrest, carmen ortiz, darrell issa, doj, elijah cummings, investigation

44 Comments

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Ninja (profile), 29 Jan 2013 @ 11:21am

This is only coming to light because of all the public outrage that followed Aaron's death. When people get interested and involved all sorts of things come to light.

One can only hope this doesn't lose momentum and leads to much needed reviews and changes.
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crade (profile), 29 Jan 2013 @ 11:40am

Q: "�How did the criminal charges, penalties sought, and plea offers in this case compare to those of other cases that have been prosecuted or considered for prosecution under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act?"

A: They are mostly equally ridiculous.
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Anonymous Coward, 29 Jan 2013 @ 11:44am

Re:
One can also hope that she does not become the sacrificial lamb used to avoid a more detailed look at the department.
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TheArchitect, 29 Jan 2013 @ 11:58am

Consequences
Aaron Swartz stopped SOPA to maintain civil rights, and the federal prosecutors threw the book at him. Ortiz overstepped her bounds with Swartz, and now the public is targeting her. Here's to the book getting thrown at her just as hard as she's used to throwing it.
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Michael, 29 Jan 2013 @ 11:59am

and now has over 50,000 people asking the White House to fire her

I think that is ridiculous. She shouldn't be fired. She should have a group of people go through her life and find any crimes they can possibly charge her with and offer her a "deal" if she only wants to spend a year in prison.

With any luck, she has an unlocked smartphone.
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Lowestofthekeys (profile), 29 Jan 2013 @ 11:59am

Got Milk?
Masnick, you forced my hand on this one!

http://i.imgur.com/lsdUxnM.png
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TheArchitect, 29 Jan 2013 @ 11:59am

Consequences
Aaron Swartz stopped SOPA to maintain civil rights, and the federal prosecutors threw the book at him. Ortiz overstepped her bounds with Swartz, and now the public is targeting her. Here's to the book getting thrown at her just as hard as she's used to throwing it.
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Anonymous Coward, 29 Jan 2013 @ 12:01pm

She hasn't been fired yet?
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Anonymous Coward, 29 Jan 2013 @ 12:04pm

Holy shit issa is working on something legitimate for once...wow, just slap me silly and call me suprised
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Mason Wheeler (profile), 29 Jan 2013 @ 12:10pm

Does any of this remind you of Prenda?
All this stuff coming out at the same time as all the insanity from John Steele and Prenda Law. It seems very similar, actually: Come up with as many crazy charges as you can think of, throw them all at someone and try to get them to settle (plea-bargain) and if not, throw the book at them in court with even more craziness.

Maybe it's time we started using a new term to describe this behavior from prosecutors. I nominate "indictment trolling". Anyone else like the idea?
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Anonymous Coward, 29 Jan 2013 @ 12:17pm

Re: Does any of this remind you of Prenda?
you think it needs a name? I've got a very apropos name for you.

"business as usual". this is how prosecution is done. welcome to our "justice" system.
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Applesauce, 29 Jan 2013 @ 12:19pm

This is all Aaron's fault.
What do you want to bet that right now, Carmen is whining about how Aaron Swartz planned all this with deliberate and malicious intent to ruin her gubernatorial prospects.

She is thinking: He ruined her life.

Just like:
1. I didn't want to rob that bank, but it had all that money in it, I had to.
2. I didn't want to rape that girl, but she wasn't properly veiled and so she forced me to rape her.

Criminals always blame their victims.
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Rebelready (profile), 29 Jan 2013 @ 12:20pm

Re: This is only coming to light
oops! guess this dude is lucky this happened at this time because with eyes not focused as they currently are these fools we support probably would not have even listened and extorted a guilty plea with their unprofessional abusive tactics!!!
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Anonymous Coward, 29 Jan 2013 @ 12:24pm

She should remember...
The Internet doesn't forget either.
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anonymous dutch coward, 29 Jan 2013 @ 12:28pm

scapegoat
ah luckily an easy scapegoat. she gets fired/leaves for personal reasons. gets a cushy job when all has died down. nothing changes. next!
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Rebelready (profile), 29 Jan 2013 @ 12:30pm

Re: With any luck, she has a smart phone (LOL)
How about aiding and abetting obstruction of justice??? And it seems to me that there are conspiracy laws where the the person conspired against dies but can"t say for sure at the moment.

The Office of General Counsel from the Administrative Offices of the US Courts needs to be confronted at these hearings in DC because the stone covering the PACER incident needs to be turned; this was a huge embarrassment to the FBI where their harassment of Aaron over the PACER download ended with the fact that absolutely no law had been broken. The aforementioned makes the current situation look like a �We got him this time� scenario chased by some heavy handed retaliation.

Was US Attorney Ortiz pressured by the US Courts to pursue Aaron is a question that MUST be asked! Further, US Attorney Ortiz needs to be asked why she felt she should be so heavy handed on Aaron when her office chose to ignore alleged computer fraud by court staff which was supported by material evidence submitted to her office such as court dockets and filings as well as affidavits? US Attorney Ortiz needs to be asked why the FBI and her office ignored alleged fraud by staff at the USDC of Massachusetts and First Circuit where computers provided to them by the tax payer were used with the purposeful intent to obstruct justice. US Attorney Ortiz needs to be asked why no action was taken when her office was informed that these acts were not only carried by clerk staff but, also, carried by a Magistrate Judge and an Assistant Circuit Executive with the Title LEGAL AFFAIRS who felt she could render fraudulent documents with an inactive law license and post those documents on a government web site. Criminal defendants are not the only ones being abused in the very corrupt US Courts and the abandonment of principle, oath and duty by the front line staff in these courts is happening throughout this country; citizens are being robbed of life, liberty and property at the hands of corruption. Further the federal court system has set the standard and many state courts throughout the country are following suit; they are also infested with corruption.

NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW yet Aaron with his open records campaign, connections after working to defeat SOPA and general capabilities that could lead to full exposure of the corruption in the US Courts was the one being persecuted! Hopefully MIT will answer why they chose to bow to a corrupt federal government over standing by Aaron!!!

http://www.scribd.com/tired_of_corruption https://public.resource.org/aaron/army/
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Anonymous Coward, 29 Jan 2013 @ 12:33pm

How many screw-ups do you get to make and keep such a job?

She must belong to one hell of a union.
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rorybaust (profile), 29 Jan 2013 @ 12:45pm

How many screw-ups do you get to make and keep such a job?
5 the first 3 just alert you to the allegation of maybe your not being fair or reasonable in your prosecutions , the next 1 will move you into mediation and show you informational aides promoting you on how to improve your performance however if you get the 5th and final warning your career is slowed to 1/10th of the previous level and you can't switch jobs.
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Coogan (profile), 29 Jan 2013 @ 12:57pm

Re: How many screw-ups do you get to make and keep such a job?
5 the first 3 just alert you to the allegation of maybe your not being fair or reasonable in your prosecutions , the next 1 will move you into mediation and show you informational aides promoting you on how to improve your performance however if you get the 5th and final warning you resign and take a consulting job on K Street at 3x your previous salary

Fixed it for you...
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Anonymous Coward, 29 Jan 2013 @ 12:58pm

Re: scapegoat
Unfortunately, the dutchman speaks truth.
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ahow628 (profile), 29 Jan 2013 @ 1:12pm

"The US Attorney who was in charge of the ridiculous Aaron Swartz prosecution..."

Man, TechDirt needs to get a spellchecker. You keep misspelling "persecution" in every single one of these Aaron Swartz articles.
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weneedhelp (profile), 29 Jan 2013 @ 1:18pm

Bad Week For Carmen Ortiz
Yeah... not as bad as her victims.
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Anonymous Coward, 29 Jan 2013 @ 1:31pm

Re: Consequences
On most of the points, I am pretty sure she has perfectly canned answers with some "precendence". On the question of SOPA, it is 99% certain that the answer is going to be no or something about how such an activity can not influence the courts decission etc.

If it is only an initial question she can easily get cooked on this one if the committee has a broader angle to it, like asking how much she knew about it and to reveal her emotional state at time of the filings.
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BreadGod (profile), 29 Jan 2013 @ 1:32pm

"How many screw-ups do you get to make and keep such a job?"

She's a government employee. Government employees are impossible to fire. Have you ever wondered why public schools never bother to fire bad teachers? The process is so hard and complicated that most schools don't even try.

On a more related note, I'd like to thank Carmen Ortiz and the federal government. By persecuting Aaron Swartz and bullying him into suicide, they turned him into a martyr. Many more people are carrying on his legacy. Governments have this strange idea that if they get rid of a radical thinker, then no one will try to follow in his footsteps. They have this idea that if a radical thinker dies, then all his ideas will die with him. Hahaha! Jesus Christ!
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Anonymous Coward, 29 Jan 2013 @ 1:40pm

'How many screw-ups do you get to make and keep such a job?'

i suppose that depends on how many and for how long the fuck ups can be kept quiet!
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Anonymous Coward, 29 Jan 2013 @ 1:43pm

Re:
As far as I can see she will have a field day when it comes to maneuvering around anything illegal. When it comes to being immoral and or lack judgement it is probably a 50/50 if she goes unscratched.

Chances are that she resigns from her current position after answering the questions, since the internet population is a truely frightening enemy. As soon as the buzz dies down she will be in another good prosecutor job. Lapse of judgement is not uncommon in court rooms...
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Anonymous Coward, 29 Jan 2013 @ 1:49pm

Re: Re:
Indeed. In fact, that might be the point. Perhaps someone wants her to remain the focus of blame, and hopes that when she steps down, the public will be satisfied and stop prying. I'm sure it wouldn't be hard for someone like that to sabotage an investigation or two, just to make sure.
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Anonymous Coward, 29 Jan 2013 @ 1:56pm

That's the first time I saw the SOPA angle being suggested. Given the ties between DOJ and Hollywood. It would most certainly be interesting if any link between Ortiz actions and SOPA could be found. I doubt any solid evidence of that could be found though.
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Anonymous Coward, 29 Jan 2013 @ 2:24pm

Re: scapegoat
She'll probably walk right into Pretenda Law...and reveal her birth name as Alan Cooper or something equally ludicrous.
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gorehound (profile), 29 Jan 2013 @ 2:31pm

Re:
To bad Public Outrage won't End ICE and the DOJ.
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otb (profile), 29 Jan 2013 @ 2:37pm

The Demand Progress fire her petition

http://act.demandprogress.org/sign/wh_ortiz/?akid=1973.16477.4nFLkv&rd=1&t=2
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Anonymous Coward, 29 Jan 2013 @ 2:50pm

Re: Re: Re:
I agree but I think the hope is that this case becomes a catalyst for change in the law such that accountablility and a vehicle for recourse is added such that there is a significant deterence of this sort of behavior in the future.
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Anonymous Coward, 29 Jan 2013 @ 2:56pm

Re: Re:
I don't really know about that. This is one of those things where her name is now known and permanently associated with this case world wide. Do you really think someone would want to take the risk of having to answer for the fact that they hired her as a prosecutor after this?
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Jay (profile), 29 Jan 2013 @ 2:59pm

How many screw-ups do you get to make and keep such a job?

The government doesn't give a care about screw ups. She'll get a raise for that.
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Anonymous Coward, 29 Jan 2013 @ 3:16pm

Re: Does any of this remind you of Prenda?
Indictment trolling is a very good term to use and describe this type of garbage. I hope that it catches on.
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Mason Wheeler (profile), 29 Jan 2013 @ 4:05pm

Re:
She's a government employee. Government employees are impossible to fire. Have you ever wondered why public schools never bother to fire bad teachers? The process is so hard and complicated that most schools don't even try.

Actually it's not that hard... unless the teacher has tenure. Then it's almost impossible even if the teacher commits a felony. (Literally.)

Not quite a felony, but I remember in high school, our school paper ran an article one time strongly suggesting that a significant fraction of high school-age students who lived on farms were in the habit of participating in sexual activities with animals. (This was in a rural community where a lot of the kids at my school lived on farms, BTW.)

The school paper was supposed to be supervised by a teacher who acted as editor. The buck stops there, as they say. Turns out she let the article go through because she thought it was "amusing." She should have been thrown out on her ear for that... but she had tenure. So instead they moved her to teaching history.

I ended up in her class the next year. Worst teacher I've ever had. She did some stuff in there that should have gotten her thrown out again, but... tenure. (I also ended up writing for the school paper. The guy they got to replace her actually did a really good job.)
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totalz (profile), 29 Jan 2013 @ 7:09pm

"May the dark force be with her."
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Anonymous Coward, 29 Jan 2013 @ 7:16pm

Re: How many screw-ups do you get to make and keep such a job?
The same logic figures in RIAA cases. Somehow, they sue so many dead grandmothers and still they're in business!
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Doganlaw (profile), 29 Jan 2013 @ 9:01pm

Petition the Whitehouse
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/remove-united-states-district-attorney-carmen-ortiz-office -overreach-case-aaron-swartz/RQNrG1Ck

Go to this website if you feel the punishment should fit the crime.
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Anonymous Coward, 30 Jan 2013 @ 12:26am

Re: Re: Re:
Why not? What do you think Beryl Howell has been hired as a judge for?
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Ninja (profile), 30 Jan 2013 @ 3:05am

Re:
*slow clap*

I'm shocked you didn't get a insightful badge for this along with the funny one.
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Anonymous Coward, 30 Jan 2013 @ 5:11am

Re: Consequences
I wish that was enough, im overjoyed the the people are actually getting a say, hope it becomes a beautifull standard, but i still have my apathy, how many ortiz's are there out there, when will we finally have a just system
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shane (profile), 30 Jan 2013 @ 10:51am

Preach it Brother!
You got MY vote for insightful.

It's good to see this investigation, but it needs to go much, much farther.
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shane (profile), 30 Jan 2013 @ 10:55am

Re: Re: Consequences
We need to attack corruption on a broad array of issues.

1. Central Banking - this allows central control of the money supply.
2. IP Laws - These allow ownership of information, and central control over who is allowed to know what.
3. Limited Liability - this allows "owners" to have their interests protected from "labor" and "consumers" - an artificial and unjust separation by any measure.

The more I read, the more I realize all of history is a long, slow march towards totalitarianism. We are far less free than our Medieval cousins were, shockingly. We just don't comprehend it yet.
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