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Three days after award-winning US journalist Barrett Brown was thrown back “in the hole,” the federal government has yet to provide an infraction sheet detailing his offense.
The US Marshals Service took Brown into custody last week after a routine visit with his case managers. The Bureau of Prisons "technically holds sway over my life until May 25th when my sentence officially ends," Brown told Sputnik in a statement on Sunday morning.
"After 72 hours, I still have received nothing," he said. "Contrary to BOP policy, and indeed federal law, I was not provided a written infraction report, much less given the disciplinary hearing that normally precedes punishment."
Of course, detainment without explaining the reasons behind Brown’s re-arrest begs the question of whether the BOP is using exclusive authority to silence a political opponent. Brown has been a critic of the BOP and the US federal government in recent years, and has reported on Washington’s efforts to conduct shady surveillance operations on US citizens via third-party private contractors.
Attorney Jay Leiderman told Sputnik on Friday the Barrett Brown Rule is unfolding before our very eyes: that is, the government can use nifty legal tactics to silence and arrest individuals they personally don’t like.
But this is precisely why the US Bill of Rights was included in the US Constitution: To prevent the government from infringing upon the most basic, inalienable rights. In addition to the current attempts to silence Brown — he was detained one day before he was slated to do an interview with PBS — the BOP’s current tactics violate due process protections enumerated in the 5th and 14th Constitutional amendments.
