Jay Leiderman , a California defence lawyer known for his whistleblower advocacy and defense of political dissidents and hackers , was confirmed dead in Ventura County on Thursday . He was 50 yr sure-enough .
nickname the “ Hacktivist ’s advocator ” byThe Atlanticin 2012 , Leiderman gained home attention for his pro - bono work for client impeach of crashing corporate and government internet site , include members of the group Anonymous .
They were seldom right cases .
Photo: Courtesy of Jay Leiderman
Leiderman ’s hacking client had a shrewish habit of openly take to the things they were accused of doing . One spend a decade evading police in several countries , giving interviews all the while on the lam . ( The guest wascapturedin June . ) Still , their cause strike a chord with the Queens - born attorney , who ’d long held to a malcontent legal philosophical system . After a city in California run a law criminalizing homelessness , the same client knocked down its website for under an hour . Where the FBI saw a felony information processing system crime deserving up to 15 year in prison , Leiderman saw a peaceful protest over an inequitable law ; a dissent , he noted , that caused no perceptible harm .
Leiderman often fought hacking cases in the press , drawing allusions to Civil - Rights - era sit - ins . Disrupting avail at unintegrated luncheon rejoinder , he resolved , was hardly different from bother a bunch of site visitors . “ It ’s really easy to tell legitimate protests , I believe , ” he said . “ And we should be broadly defining lawful protests . ”
Alright , we ’re offering to act any hacktivists prosecuted in and around our ' cowling for complimentary . It ’s the least we can do for freedom .
— Jay Leiderman ( @JayLeidermanLaw)June 30 , 2011
Leiderman , who ’s survived by his nine - year - quondam son Lydon , died of an apparent tenderness attack on Tuesday , his buddy Craig said in a brief statement . Ventura ’s aesculapian quizzer say an exact cause of expiry would likely take calendar month to certify .
Before his work with hackers , Leiderman defended a Ventura man who ’d been get in a drug bust , and whose cellphone an officer searched without a warrant . The California Supreme Court eventually heard the case but rule the officer ’s actions inherent . The decision spark off a rush by state legislators to sample and shield electronic devices from warrantless searches . Two years after , the U.S. Supreme Court release acontrary watershed ruling . In his majority opinion , Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that cellphones are “ such a pervasive and insistent part of everyday life ” that , were foreigner to shoot the breeze Earth , they “ might reason they were an important feature film of human bod . ”
A life - long Deadhead and punk music sports fan , Leiderman successfully defend a slew of clients check under anti - drug laws . He once assume on node who had their kids select aside after police establish marijuana hide in their menage . And he won . He took a shine to medical marijuana patients and was a fierce advocate for over a decade , writing a book on the subject in 2011 for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws . In 2013 , he join other activist lawyer in found the Whistleblower Defense League . At its launching , he accused the Justice Department and the FBI of direct journalist and political dissidents using tools of oppression , harassment , and fear .
“ People are being subpoenaed , indicted , and incarcerated , ” he said , “ plainly for explore the truth . ”
In an essay on his website , Leiderman defended lawyers who get a regretful rap for taking on unpopular clients , including those charge with unutterable crimes . The shamefaced the node , he believed , the greater the pauperism for skilled representation . “ I can only state that what travel along is my own brand of nationalism , ” he read . “ I fend for those charged with crimes because it is both my duty as a lawyer , and as an American . ”
A funeral , followed by a interment , will be restrain on Sunday , Sept. 12 , at the Robert Schoem ’s Menorah Chapel in Paramus , NJ .
Update , 9:30pm : This taradiddle was update with a cause of death ply by a family penis .
EarthHackingLaw , Crime
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