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Who's A Rat Dot Com Reveals Police Informants
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The Who’s a Rat website is a large online database revealing informants and agents who’ve switched sides to reduce their own sentences. Don’t bother looking for it - the site has been shut down (at least for now). According to the Justice Department the purpose of this site (and sites like it) is to intimidate and harrass witnesses. However, the site owner says that his First Amendment rights have been violated and that he is perfectly within his rights to post the information since the site in no way suggest, promotes or condones violent or illegal activity against informants.
There are three “rats of the week” on the home page of whosarat.com, a Web site devoted to exposing the identities of witnesses cooperating with the government. The site posts their names and mug shots, along with court documents detailing what they have agreed to do in exchange for lenient sentences.
The existence of the site raises a First Amendment issue for its founder, Mr. Bucci. After his conviction, he filed a motion last month seeking a new trial, saying the government’s true purpose in prosecuting him was to shut down the site because “he dared to assert his First Amendment right” to post the information.
(nytimes)
Via: nytimes
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