Justina Pelletier was born very premature with a slew of health problems. She mostly kept them at bay throughout her formative years, until the summer of 2010 when she was 12. That summer she complained of stomaches so bad she needed a number of surgeries. By February 2013, when Justina was 15, she was ordered to go to Boston Children's Hospital because something was very wrong. Justina was admitted to the hospital and was there for a few days until her parents wanted to take her home. But, they couldn't. Boston Children's Hospital had filed a 51A report to the Department of Children and Family Services, saying that they suspected a case of Medical Abuse by her parents and that now Justina should be a ward of the state. A judge agreed and Justina would remain in the hospital and, ultimately, in a psych ward for the coming years.
Legal battles ensued, but that wasn't all. A hacking group called Anonymous led by a man named Marty Gottesfeld began a campaign that insisted Justina be returned to her family or BCH would "suffer retaliation the likes of which they had never seen." They did hack their system for a week to the tune of $300 million in damages. What came next was a battle for legal and parental guardianship, a hacker who fled to Cuba and all in all general mayhem. In the middle of which was a young girl whose very life was slipping away before everyone's eyes.

Show Notes:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt24072584/