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The Price of Citizenship
Mar. 18th, 2006 11:55 pmIn 2002, Diebold was fraudulently selling voting machines to California, claiming the software in the machines was certified when it was not. As one attorney in their law firm said to another in a memo, using uncertified voting systems violated California election law and that if Diebold had employed an uncertified system, Alameda County could sue the company for breaching its $12.7-million contract.
In the March 2004 California primary, many of the machines failed. Some voters were turned away, others merely had to use paper ballots.
Diebold eventually paid $2.6 million (but criminal charges were dropped) to settle the suit over these particular misrepresentations. The critical evidence in that suit were the legal memos, such as the one I mentioned above, from Diebold's law firm. Unfortunately, those memos were distributed by a temp working for the law firm, who recognized their importance and did what he had to do to preserve voting rights.
Whistle-blower legislation protects the temp, Stephen Heller, from civil suits. But Heller is now charged with three felonies: illegally accessing computer data; commercial burglary; receiving stolen property. I understand why the lawyers in the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office might want to charge him, even if there are no political motivations (which I wouldn't count on). People are entitled to seek legal advice without having their lawyers' consideration of their situations made public. And so there should be potential penalties for anyone who leaks such information.
But sometimes the greater good demands that one break the law and be willing to face the possibility of prosecution. And these same times call on those fortunate enough to not have been in Heller's position — in possession of such necessary but prohibited information — to do what they can to protect the citizen who put his neck on the line. So, for anyone with the wherewithal to help, here is the URL for the Stephen Heller Legal Defense Fund. As it says on the Donations Page,
In the March 2004 California primary, many of the machines failed. Some voters were turned away, others merely had to use paper ballots.
Diebold eventually paid $2.6 million (but criminal charges were dropped) to settle the suit over these particular misrepresentations. The critical evidence in that suit were the legal memos, such as the one I mentioned above, from Diebold's law firm. Unfortunately, those memos were distributed by a temp working for the law firm, who recognized their importance and did what he had to do to preserve voting rights.
Whistle-blower legislation protects the temp, Stephen Heller, from civil suits. But Heller is now charged with three felonies: illegally accessing computer data; commercial burglary; receiving stolen property. I understand why the lawyers in the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office might want to charge him, even if there are no political motivations (which I wouldn't count on). People are entitled to seek legal advice without having their lawyers' consideration of their situations made public. And so there should be potential penalties for anyone who leaks such information.
But sometimes the greater good demands that one break the law and be willing to face the possibility of prosecution. And these same times call on those fortunate enough to not have been in Heller's position — in possession of such necessary but prohibited information — to do what they can to protect the citizen who put his neck on the line. So, for anyone with the wherewithal to help, here is the URL for the Stephen Heller Legal Defense Fund. As it says on the Donations Page,
All administrative costs of the fund and this website are being paid by Stephen and his wife, so that absolutely 100% of all donations go to Stephen's legal bills.
. . .
Stephen's legal defense bills are huge. Up to now, Stephen and his wife have paid his legal bills with their personal savings and by taking a second mortgage on their house. At this point, their personal savings are gone and their credit is almost tapped out.
