PRETRIAL PUNISHMENT
Mitnick is only the latest of several computer crime suspects punished without due process by law enforcement and prosecution officials. The most common tactic it appears, is to seize suspects' computers. Since 1983, FBI agents and other Justice Department officials have commented favorably on this practice. The federal government seldom jails juveniles, one official noted. "But there are a lot of other possibilities: some kind of commitment on the part of the parents, maybe a monetary penalty. Heck, just our keeping their equipment has got to be a hardship."
The seizure of equipment is supposed to be investigative rather than punitive. This precept seems to have mattered as little to the quoted official as it did to the attorneys arguing that Kevin Mitnick should be denied his freedom based on rumor.
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