Gary McKinnon

[andrewducker]

Can anyone explain to me, in nice simple English, why we shouldn't be extraditing a convicted hacker to the country where he commited the crime?  It really does seem like an open and shut case to me, and I'm baffled why some people seem to think it's wrong.

I'm clearly missing something - can someone explain it to me?

Comments

[meihua.livejournal.com]

There are several indications that McKinnon will not receive a fair trial in the US. As he is a UK citizen, it's our government's duty to protect him from that.

- He has been threatened by US prosecutors with a maximum jail sentence (30 years) in a high security with prison if he refused to change his plea.

- He is on the aspergers/autism spectrum and it is common for such individuals not to be fairly tried.

- The US military are angry and are trying to take it out of McKinnon's hide. The UK justice system doesn't have the same bone to pick and will hopefully be more reasonable.

- Extradition isn't fair right now. The US can happily extradite anyone from the UK they want to try in the US; the UK cannot do the same. So on princple we should resist extraditions.

- It's *not* cut and dried where McKinnon committed the crime. Some legal interpretations say that the crime was committed where the computers were compromised (the US), some that it's about where McKinnon was when he committed the crime.

[andrewducker]

Thanks!

[meihua.livejournal.com]

I should add to the aspergers/autism bit - we don't try spectrum people fairly in the UK either. But we're better than the US and we're improving rapidly too. My mum is actually doing a lot of work on improving trials for dyslexics and that crosses over into this area, so I hear quite a lot about this from them. :)

[derumi.livejournal.com]

Unless he's tried in a military court, the US military can't do too much against him. American military lawyers don't fare well against decent civilian lawyers, in my observation.

I thought prosecutorial threats of maximum punishment was a normal event in most modern countries? All the other points make sense to me; I wouldn't want McKinnon extradited if he can be tried under British criminal laws instead. Also, are we going to draft 12 British tourists to make up his jury of peers?

disclosure: I've had a military lawyer represent me once. It's better to go in debt and hire a civilian one.

[meihua.livejournal.com]

> I thought prosecutorial threats of maximum punishment
> was a normal event in most modern countries?

This is illegal in the United Kingdom.

[derumi.livejournal.com]

I see. That makes better sense than requiring a competent defender to make sure you get a fair punishment.

[a-pawson.livejournal.com]

It is not done in our legal system, but it is commonplace in many countries. And ity is not as though the prosecution get to decide the sentence. Following a guilty verdict, both sides are given an opportunity to petition the judge for an appropriate sentence, but the final decision rests with the judge, as it does in the UK.