What INTERNET PRECEDENTS Are Set by Raphael Golb's PRISON SENTENCE? Dead Sea Scrolls

WHAT PRECEDENTS ARE SET BY
RAPHAEL GOLB'S PRISON SENTENCE?

(And yes, today the Court system DOES seem like a lottery)

It is my understanding, please correct me if I'm wrong, that even a felon can be eligible for rooming with other non-violent, minimum-security inmates. Why choose the most physically dangerous place to send skinny 125 lb bookworm Raphael Golb, fellow Jew, and son of an academic rival? Do they throw in minnows like him to provide easy victims for the sharks?

For some inmates, Rikers Island is as good as a death sentence (or nearly)- or at least, continual fear thereof- I was not aware that beatings, death and rape, or the torture of non-stop expecting it- are on the lawbooks as the punishment for blogging and emailing- or even "identity theft" for that matter. Or even (as they claim) begrudging a professor a $650 lecture.

Many of the newspapers were present for the sentencing; I briefly discuss their reports at the end of this post.**

For now I just want to mention a few stray things; and then make some guesses about what PRECEDENTS this conviction may set. I read in the papers that covered the trial that Raphael Golb's case is the first of its kind, that no one has ever been convicted of a "crime" for doing what he did. This tells me that Raphael Golb's case will probably set a precedent for internet conduct.

This post is for my Jewish Readers. Dead Sea Scrolls trial of Raphael Golb

giant "menorah of freedom," lit around the world

תשע"א 

5771

Yud Kislev   י כסלו       

Wednesday November 10, 2010

Yud-Tes Kislev   י"ט כסלו

New Year of Chasidut

Friday November 26, 2010

פדה בשלום נפשי מקרב לי כי ברבים היו עמד

Tehillim 55:19  He has redeemed my soul in peace . . .

A webpage describing the detailed, day-by-day progress, from the Alter Rebbe's imprisonment to his release:

from the initial complaints of the Misnagdim of Vilna; day-by-day details of the interrogations and responses; simultaneous historical events; dates of specific documents and petitions, etc.:

http://www.chabadlibrary.org/exhibit/ex7/exeng7.htm

___________________________________________________

You may recall this event in Brooklyn, exactly a year ago:


http://www.crownheights.info/index.php?itemid=22056

http://www.crownheights.info/index.php?itemid=22115

http://www.crownheights.info/index.php?itemid=22472


Why choose the most physically dangerous place to send skinny 125 lb bookworm Raphael Golb, fellow Jew, and son of an academic rival? In my understanding, please correct me if I'm wrong, even a felon can be eligible for rooming with other non-violent, minimum-security inmates.

Why criminal court? Isn't this a matter for the civil courts, a lawsuit? Where's the prison-punishable crime?

'CRIMINAL' E-MAIL ACCOUNTS, RAPHAEL GOLB NEVER USED- Dead Sea Scrolls

Rikers Island State Penitentiary, NY

where Raphael Golb 
the son of an academic rival,
could be sentenced to 4 years. . .

. . .for certain emails that he sent

perhaps hoping 

to "obtain a benefit"

or perhaps hoping to "annoy,"

by parodying a professor;

AND EMAIL ACCOUNTS HE OPENED,

-INCLUDING MANY HE NEVER USED;

And for a name he invented;

And for perhaps hoping

the professor might not get $650.

[But which the professor got.]

Reminder:
Raphael Golb testified that he opened up email accounts in the names of people who were aggressive against his father. (By the way, since the real "Jonathan Seidel" was not one of these people, it wouldn't make sense for Raphael to use his name in any way; or even to know of him.)

But not exactly in their names: Raphael Golb testified that he was careful to use off-kilter approximations of those names.

Raphael was also careful not to use email addresses that looked real. A witness for the prosecution, the person in charge of all New York University computers system-wide, stated quite emphatically, some two or three times, that it is "extremely easy" for anyone to forge an "nyu.edu" email account. But Raphael testified that he used no professional-appearing account addresses, only general accounts like "Gmail."

I go into more detail on all this in my post::

The "Larry Schiffman" Gmails

THE BIG "HOWEVER"
From Raphael Golb's point of view, the names he used were "approximate" enough for legal parody. But the jury ruled that even "approximation" was enough to convict Raphael of several criminal charges, such as for "criminal impersonation" of those people. 

Mystifying to me is that many of these "approximate" names were on accounts that Raphael never sent an email from, never even used.

Why Was Raphael Golb Convicted of a Felony, not Libel? Dead Sea Scrolls

Poet Frederick Seidel,

in 2006 called

"the best 

American poet writing today" 

by the New York Sun.

(click for website)

Raphael Golb testified that

he was the inspiration 

for the name 'Jonathan Seidel'

Did the jury understand why they convicted Raphael Golb of a felony?

I found a copy online of the original Grand Jury Indictment of Raphael Golb. I knew that he had been convicted of the felony of Identity Theft, and I soon figured out that "Identity Theft in the Second Degree" was a felony, while "Identity Theft in the Third Degree" was not a felony but a misdemeanor.

The definition of these two types of "Identity Theft" were very similar- it was a difference of one extra phrase. I know I sound condescending but I wonder if the jury realized the difference, if they realized that one was a felony and the other was not.

Changes to My Previous Posts. Dead Sea Scrolls Trial of Raphael Golb

Frederick Seidel's poetry collection

"Ooga-Booga" won the 2006 

Los Angeles Times Book Prize.

(click for website)

Raphael Golb testified that

he was the inspiration 

for the name 'Jonathan Seidel'

If you occasionally revisit my older posts, you will find changes almost every time you return. Changes both large and small.