Conspiring to commit voodoo

["Timothy C. May" <tcmay@got.net>]

At 11:55 AM -0500 11/11/96, John Young wrote:
>   11-11-96. WaPo Page One:
>
>   "Preventing Terrorism: Where to Draw the Line? With
>   Militias, U.S. Adopts Preemptive Strategy"

>      According to legal experts, the mere discussion of a
>      crime, no matter how fanciful it may be, can constitute
>      a criminal conspiracy. "The classic example is that you
>      are guilty of a crime if you conspire with someone else
>      to stick pins in a voodoo doll in the belief that your
>      enemy will fall dead," said Albert Alschuler, a law
>      professor at the University of Chicago.

I don't think I'll be asking this particular expert anything important.
(Charitably, maybe he was quoted out of context.)

Even in this country, with its odd brand of justice, I'd like to see the DA
that will bring charges on "conspiring to commit voodoo," much less the
judge and jury that would eventually convict.

Ham sandwiches notwithstanding, there are powerful limits on what
conspiracy charges are feasible to bring.

(BTW, I doubt even the Cypherpunks members could be plausibly indicted on a
conspiracy charge, even though many of us speak openly of seeking the
overthrow of some or all of the U.S. system. Most of us avoid the key
ingredient of "violent," though those preaching the assassination of public
leaders as a method of overthrowing the system are certainly closer to the
line, and may even be over it. What saves them is that law enforcement, if
they've been made aware of these posts, dismisses them as ravings. This
benign neglect will probably change rather quickly if one of the offshore
betting markets starts carrying odds that a particular judge or other
public figure will be killed. And if he _is_ killed, look for
interrogations of the AP "ringleaders"--and maybe many of the rest of us,
who have spoken out for anarchy and the like--that will make the FBI
interrogations of the nuPrometheus League case pale by comparison.)

--Tim May

"The government announcement is disastrous," said Jim Bidzos,.."We warned IBM
that the National Security Agency would try to twist their technology."
[NYT, 1996-10-02]
We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, I know that that ain't allowed.
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^1,257,787-1 | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."