Wen Ho Lee Supporters Gather 15,000 Signatures...

[achtungbaby]

By Richard Benke, Associated Press Writer

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- Supporters of former Los Alamos scientist Wen Ho Lee have gathered 15,000 signatures seeking a presidential pardon they hope will clear his name.

Lee, who was prosecuted for making copies of sensitive nuclear weapons data, pleaded guilty to a single count of downloading data to computer tape at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He has said he made copies to protect data from being erased.

Lee was held in solitary confinement for nine months, though never charged with spying. He was sentenced to time served.

full story (http://www.yellowworld.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=84)

[ChinaLama]

to be honest, maybe Wen Ho Lee supporters are pushing the case a bit too far? i mean it's not like Wen Ho Lee DIDN't commit a crime or do something incredibly stupid w pretty sensitive info. So i don't know if people should be pushing for a pardon.

[jenyoung80]

[color=indigo:bc0fea36aa]i remember working on this case for an asian american psych class. my group and i had the opportunity to interview cecilia and met wen ho lee's daughter alberta, along with their attorneys at occidental college.

though he may have been wrong to make copies, there was no evidence of espionage. our ultimate conclusion was racial profiling in america.[/color:bc0fea36aa]

[deez nuts]

The whole thing was a fiasco. Chinalama do you think that Dr. Lee would have been arrested for being careless with top secret sensitive information, if it wasn't for incidents that lead up to his arrest? I highly doubt Dr. Lee's actions would have been bought to light.

Fellow co-workers also acknowledge the fact they, themselves were also guilty of not following security codes i.e. making copies of sensitive information to bring home to work on. Was it really necessary to detain him for that long, without being formally charged? And why not investigate everyone from that facility, rather than target Dr. Lee, exclusively? What happened to innocent till proven guilty? Right off the bat, he was marked as a spy and traitor.

It was racial profiling, period. There was no proof of espionage. The fact that the authorities then switch to emphasizing his carelessness and plea bargained with him to acknowledge his carelessness with top secret and sensitive information for his release, was just a way to save face.

There is a grave difference between human carelessness and being charged with espionage, you just can't compare the two.

[ChinaLama]

Yes, except he wasn't CONVICTED of espionage. The crime he WAS convicted of wasn't necessarily something he DESERVED a pardon from.

Also, just because other people were not targetted or convicted of anything doesn't mean what HE did was necessarily right and somehow deserving a pardon, as if he weren't guilty of anything to begin with.

[deez nuts]

Your right ChinaLama, he was never convicted for espionage. But he was never formally charged with espionage either, yet he was detained for close to a year?

You're also correct in that a formal pardon for a crime he did commit in the mishandling of sensitive nuclear information is not necessary. But imagine the stigma now attached to his name for being called a spy, when in essence he was just careless. And like I said earlier, as stated from his co-workers it was common practice for them to make copies and bring their work home. So he was not the only guilty one in that research facility.

[ChinaLama]

Well, if he's not being pardoned FOR espionage, then the stigma attached to his name won't necessarily go away. Plus, w/ all the publicity surrounding his name, i don't even think he's that stigmatized; the JUDGE at his trial apologized to him for the fed gov't's treatment of him, which basically cleared his name of espionage charges anyway.

Plus w/ the heavy campaigning for a pardon, people may become more suspicious of Dr. Lee or at least not more on his side, because they'll see him as someone who gets things through political pressure rather than "desserts." What his fellow workers did shouldn't bear on his case; if anything, they should consider themselves lucky they weren't caught, but it doesn't necessarily mean Dr. Lee should be pardoned.


(at this pt i'm just arguing for the sake of arguing but never hurts to have at least one devil's advocate...or even one devil :twisted: )

[thaite]

Well, I've met Alberta Lee also, and as she tells it Dr. Lee's handling of the sensitive info was technically against the rules but not at all unusual compared to how his coworkers handled the same info. In other words, he wasn't doing anything different from the way the rest of people were doing it.

[deez nuts]

[quote:5e83fc8907="ChinaLama"](at this pt i'm just arguing for the sake of arguing but never hurts to have at least one devil's advocate...or even one devil :twisted: )[/quote:5e83fc8907]

Wouldn't expect anything less of you, especially a fellow NY'er.

[kasia]

[quote:d425b2e93b="ChinaLama"]Yes, except he wasn't CONVICTED of espionage. The crime he WAS convicted of wasn't necessarily something he DESERVED a pardon from.

Also, just because other people were not targetted or convicted of anything doesn't mean what HE did was necessarily right and somehow deserving a pardon, as if he weren't guilty of anything to begin with.[/quote:d425b2e93b]

but was the crime for which he was convicted justification for nine months of solitary confinement??

[ChinaLama]

the 9 months were pre-trial; plus you can't "pardon" the gov't for confining him so that just seems like a side issue to arouse emotional support imo.

[deez nuts]

He was held in solitary confinement for 9 months without being charged. Correct me if I'm wrong, all you law gurus, but isn't there a law that says you cannot detain a person for a certain amount of time without charging him of a crime? If not, is being careless a federal offense worthy of incaceration?

[kasia]

[quote:75a0b32129="Chasiubao_Boy"]He was held in solitary confinement for 9 months without being charged. Correct me if I'm wrong, all you law gurus, but isn't there a law that says you cannot detain a person for a certain amount of time without charging him of a crime? If not, is being careless a federal offense worthy of incaceration?[/quote:75a0b32129]

uh...yeh. you can't even detain someone for 48 hours without charging him. wasn't wen ho lee charged, though?

[deez nuts]

I'm not sure, Kasia. If memory serves me right, he was detained, for a long period of time. The charges of espionage and mishandling of nuclear information was then bought. Went to trial, the evidence of espionage crumbled and the story goes on. I think it lasted for close to two years. But, I do remember he was held for a long period of time before charges were even bought up.

[kasia]

really? wait, do you know why he brought suit against the government? maybe it was because they unlawfully detained him?

[deez nuts]

I don't know, to be honest I didn't know he bought suit against the US government. I know there was talk about it, but I don't know if it came to fruition. But, it's a fair assumption to be one of the reasons, I would say.