Jim Bell - Release and Conviction

Release and Conviction

I once believed it's too bad that there are a lot of people who work for government who are hard-working and honest people who will get hit (by Assassination Politics) and it's a shame… Well, I don't believe that any more. They are all either crooks or they tolerate crooks or they are aware of crooks among their numbers.

Jim Bell in interview with Wired, on 2000-11-11.

Bell served his prison sentence at a federal medium-security prison in Phoenix, Arizona, from which he was released in April 2000. He was rearrested in June of the same year on the charge of violating several of his 36 probation conditions, and was returned in November 2000 to a federal detention center at SeaTac, Washington following a search of his home that Bell called a "disguised burglary".

Bell had conducted sousveillance against Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents, using public databases and legally obtained CD-ROMs, "to let them know that surveillance can be done in both directions." Over a six-month period, Bell also compiled evidence of what he alleged was illegal surveillance of him by a government agency. In the days leading up to his arrest, he claimed that the agency had unlawfully installed a covert listening device in his home and a tracking device in his car, something the ATF admitted doing during the subsequent trial. The ATF stated that it had planted a covert GPS system in Bell's car and that it had tracked the movements of his Nissan Maxima in real time.

Bell alleged in his 2003 lawsuit that the government employees had actually planted an illegal GPS tracking device in his car months before the one ostensibly allowed by the October 2000 warrant, at least as early as Bell's April 2000 release from prison. The information from that prior device could not be used, however, because there was no warrant allowing it to be planted. Bell also alleged that federal government employees had also illegally planted a GPS tracking transmitter in a vehicle he drove in June 1998, one which the government never disclosed. Bell further stated that his defense lawyers colluded to keep Bell from being able to demand disclosure of all such secretly planted devices.

The double standard here is simply incredible. They simply don't like the idea that Jim Bell can simply look through a few databases, find one of their people, and publish the name on the Internet. They hate that. They're trying to make it look like I've been intimidating them. They've been intimidating me. I wasn't all that happy before, but I'm hopping mad ... if you think this is going to stop me, baloney.

Jim Bell in interview with Wired, on 2000-11-21.

Bell pleaded not guilty to violating 18 U.S.C. section 2281, a law prohibiting the intimidation of family members of federal agents and some forms of stalking. The charges specified that Bell had performed Internet background checks on federal agents he asserted were harassing him, and Bell defended his actions by saying he was using public records to defend against what he saw as harassment by government officials. Journalist Declan McCullagh wrote, " says, and a good number of observers agree, that the Feds are prosecuting him for doing what an investigative reporter does: Compiling information from publicly available databases, documenting what's happening, and so on. This case could set a precedent that affects the First Amendment privilege of journalists."

Declan McCullagh asserts that during the trial, the judge sealed the entire court file, forbade the defense from issuing subpoenas to witnesses, granted the prosecution significant latitude in making negative suggestions about Bell's character, and refused requests for a mistrial. McCullagh also asserts that he was subpoenaed by two Treasury Department agents to appear before the court, without being notified ahead of time as required by federal regulations regarding subpoenas involving the media. Following the conviction, Jim Bell renewed his attempts at firing his court-appointed lawyer, appealing his case to the Supreme Court, and filing civil lawsuits against those he alleges were involved in an orchestrated conspiracy to deny him a fair trial and an unbiased, court-appointed defense counsel; his targets included two judges, at least two prosecutors, and his former probation officers and defense attorneys.