4 ms·

McKinnon's hearing was during the coalition, now the Tories have a straight majority. Wasn;t he thought to be a high suicide risk? Not quite the same as this

McKinnon's hearing was during the coalition, now the Tories have a straight majority. Wasn;t he thought to be a high suicide risk? Not quite the same as this case, but Aspergers - depending on degree - should be reason enough. I suspect McKinnon would also have been extradited under the current administration.

k-mcgrady 10y ago
Isn't Love thought to be a suicide risk too? At least that's what they were arguing. Would the coalition have effected the McKinnon decision? It was May who stopped it after all and introduced the forum bar to make it easier to stop extradition in certain cases.
- anexprogrammer 10y ago
  I believe so, and with his conditions it seems a reasonable suggestion. The judge seems to think he can go on suicide watch. We'll have to wait for appeal. McKinnon had wide support in parliament and media, and seemed to get a much higher profile than this case has. May's politics are complex - she's a liberal tory, but very right on some issues. The forum bar is probably window dressing - it looks designed to change little, and adds a prosecution certificate that can negate it (not sure how they get that certificate). Love just failed the forum bar. She also removed, in the same act, the ability of the Home Secretary to intervene on human rights grounds - passing that to the High Court. IANAL but that would see McKinnon extradited under current rules. So, coalition or May? Can never be sure, but I think the coalition will have moderated.
  - k-mcgrady 10y ago
    >> "in the same act, the ability of the Home Secretary to intervene on human rights grounds - passing that to the High Court" It seems like that's how it should be. Having politicians override the law willy nilly could be very dangerous. Worrying to think that preventing McKinnon's extradition required that though.
    - anexprogrammer 10y ago
      Oh I agree, though for extradition it's enabled a last minute sanity (popularity?) check - like McKinnon who had failed High Court appeal. The problem is extradition sets too low a hurdle that the last act significantly lowered (no longer requiring evidence amongst other things), and that's quite unpopular. Has been for ages and no govt or Home Sec has managed to convince the public - yet there continue to be high profile cases - McKinnon, NatWest 3 (which was a farce) etc.

k-mcgrady 10y ago

Isn't Love thought to be a suicide risk too? At least that's what they were arguing. Would the coalition have effected the McKinnon decision? It was May who stopped it after all and introduced the forum bar to make it easier to stop extradition in certain cases.

anexprogrammer 10y ago
I believe so, and with his conditions it seems a reasonable suggestion. The judge seems to think he can go on suicide watch. We'll have to wait for appeal. McKinnon had wide support in parliament and media, and seemed to get a much higher profile than this case has. May's politics are complex - she's a liberal tory, but very right on some issues. The forum bar is probably window dressing - it looks designed to change little, and adds a prosecution certificate that can negate it (not sure how they get that certificate). Love just failed the forum bar. She also removed, in the same act, the ability of the Home Secretary to intervene on human rights grounds - passing that to the High Court. IANAL but that would see McKinnon extradited under current rules. So, coalition or May? Can never be sure, but I think the coalition will have moderated.
- k-mcgrady 10y ago
  >> "in the same act, the ability of the Home Secretary to intervene on human rights grounds - passing that to the High Court" It seems like that's how it should be. Having politicians override the law willy nilly could be very dangerous. Worrying to think that preventing McKinnon's extradition required that though.
  - anexprogrammer 10y ago
    Oh I agree, though for extradition it's enabled a last minute sanity (popularity?) check - like McKinnon who had failed High Court appeal. The problem is extradition sets too low a hurdle that the last act significantly lowered (no longer requiring evidence amongst other things), and that's quite unpopular. Has been for ages and no govt or Home Sec has managed to convince the public - yet there continue to be high profile cases - McKinnon, NatWest 3 (which was a farce) etc.