Anonymous hacked and defaced the United States Sentencing Commission official website, accusing the DOJ of unfair tactics and disproportionate prosecution for hacktivists and other Internet freedom fighters.
In solidarity with the late Aaron Swartz, and in opposition to alleged unjust policies of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), hacktivists associated with the international collective known as Anonymous hacked and defaced the United States Sentencing Commission official website on Friday, Jan. 25, as part of Operation Last Resort.
The United States Sentencing Commission is an independent agency of the judicial branch of the federal government and is responsible for articulating the sentencing guidelines for the United States federal courts. Anonymous hacked and defaced the agencies website, replacing the contents of the web page with a statement and a video via YouTube .
Referencing the “erosion of due process, the dilution of constitutional rights,” and “the usurpation of the rightful authority of courts by the ‘discretion’ of prosecutors,” the statement left on the defaced website reads:
“The time has come to show the United States Department of Justice and its affiliates the true meaning of infiltration. The time has come to give this system a taste of its own medicine.”
In the statement Anonymous promises to “engage the United States Department of Justice and its associated executive branches in a game... a game in which the only winning move is not to play.”
In the statement the Anonymous hacktivists list several requests:
Reform of outdated and poorly-envisioned legislation, written to be so broadly applied as to make a felony crime out of violation of terms of service, creating in effect vast swathes of crimes, and allowing for selective punishment. Reform of mandatory minimum sentencing. There must be a return to proportionality of punishment with respect to actual harm caused, and consideration of motive and mens rea. Return to the inalienable right to a presumption of innocence and the recourse to trial and possibility of exoneration. Quit pre-trial bargaining with intimidation and the threat of draconian sentences. Laws must not be used as a weapon of government to make examples of those it deems threatening to its power.
Watch the video : Anonymous Operation Last Resort. View a mirror of the defacement at zone-h .
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