Anonymous Court Case Study

Not long ago it would have been unimaginable that a group of random people working remotely from anywhere in the world would be able to band together to electronically fight common enemies. However, recently a hacktivist group identifying as Anonymous has risen in power and size with the goal of fighting anyone they deem threatening to innocent people. Their operations and tactics range from gathering and leaking sensitive and/or restricted information from large corporations, to hacking Google Search in order to produce skewed (and negative) results when people searched topics related to their enemies. This type of hacktivist group is a relatively new idea and there is no set precedent for how the American government should deal with such …show more content…
It seems as though the government will alter the outcome of a court case with the goal of putting themselves on a pedestal. According to “Anonymous Hacks Law Firm Representing Haditha Marine” by Chloe Albanesius on PCMag the American government has treated those who may threaten the government differently than those who are supposed to represent the good of the government, such as Frank Wuterich. Wuterich is a former sergeant who led an assault on the Iraqi city Haditha that left 24 unarmed citizens dead, including seven children. Even though Wuterich caused the deaths of 24 unarmed civilians, he pleaded guilty and was given less than three months in prison. Normally first-degree murder, which is murder with premeditation, constitutes life in prison and even second-degree murder, which is not premeditated, leads to a very long sentence and sometimes life in prison. Wuterich most likely got off with less than three months because he killed the 24 people while serving with the government. The government want to looks strong in the eyes of American people and other countries so they do not want it to appear as though a soldier would just kill 24 unarmed civilians without good reason. Due to the short sentence Wuterich received the government aimed to make it appear as though they support the actions of Wuterich and, in turn, all of their soldiers. Contrarily, Albanesius explores the punishments of Bradley Manning and Kim Dotcom. Bradley Manning was found guilty of leaking classified documents on Wikileaks, which the government did not want to be public information. He faced a court martial with the potential of life in prison plus 150 years. Although he ended up with a reduced sentence of 35 years, it seems he was unfairly punished in relation to Wuterich who