The suicide of Internet activist Aaron Swartz, who faced felony charges at the time of his death that could have sent him to prison for 35 years, has provoked an outpouring of debate about the power of government prosecutors. Swartz had been charged with 13 felonies for sneaking into a wiring closet at MIT and using his laptop to download millions of academic articles through the school’s computer network. According to Swartz’s lawyer, the federal prosecutor’s office offered the 26-year-old a deal that would have required him to plead guilty on all counts in exchange for a six-month prison sentence. On Jan. 11, days after rejecting the deal, Swartz took his own life.
Swartz had struggled for years with depression, and it is impossible to know what led him to kill himself. But in the weeks since his death, he has become a rallying point for critics of the criminal justice system who see his story as an object lesson in the excessive power of government prosecutors. By stacking charges as high as possible and wielding the threat of mandatory sentencing laws, the argument goes, prosecutors intimidate defendants and make it all but impossible to turn down their offers.
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The gov't can be a bully and when they bring charges against someone it can ruin them financially. The gov't needs to be held accountable. A not guilty verdict should reimburse those who were wrongly accused. In Tewksbury a case was just completed where the gov't tried to take a motel from a local owner because guests has been arrested over the years in drug related crimes. The same thing happens at Walmart & Home Depot but the gov't went after the little guy. After a long trial the guy had his motel back. The gov't was a bully and spent a lot of the taxpayers money. Now let's look at the poor teenager in Chicago caught up in gang violence. One week she is part of the Presidential celebration and the next week she is in a casket. The gov't needs to spend the money where it will do the most good. Leave the honest taxpayers alone and get the filth off of the street. The gang bangers in Chicago with illegal guns should be put away for life. They are given taxpayer supplied attorney's, a slap on the wrist, and put back on the street. I have been on a jury. I will be objective but the damage has already been done by going after someone when the case should NEVER have gone to trail. Our gov't needs to be held accountable for their actions and they can not be given a blank check. A jury will hand out justice but the gov't needs to be held accounatble for their actions. I do not trust them. We need reform and we need to take away their money.
Prosecutor Carmen Ortiz should go to jail for what she did to Aaron Swartz. Unfortunately that will never happen. We as a society have to do whatever we can to stop the abuse by prosecutors and to reign in their terrorizing practices. The prosecutors of the Central Park Five and the Memphis three, all innocent young men, should also go to jail for what they did. We need to fight back against these power-hungry government employees who will do anything to win. It is outrageous that judges don't have more leaway and more power over what charges can be brought against a defendent. I've actually heard a judge say in an open courtroom that the prosecutors "just want their wins." Are we sure as a society that we want to give this kind of power to anyone? If you are ever in the grips of the criminal justice system you will see the prosecutors for what they are -- power hungry megalomaniacs.
Nothing will bring Aaron Swartz back. Nothing will give the poor innocent boys known as the Memphis Three (one of whom was borderline retarded) back their lives and the myriad others who are harmed by lazy and or evil prosecutors, who waste taxpayer money to help their own careers -- but at least we can as a society put a stop to their shenanigans. I am in favor of anything that takes away their power and puts it back in the hands of the people. Let's have judges have more say; let's use juries more; let's do whatever it takes. How do we start? How do we make this happen? How do we stop these abuses?
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A commercial driver with decades of violations is allowed to continue to drive, kills a cyclist, and is nonetheless not indicted, and will never face prison. A young man engages in an act of civil disobedience and is threatened with 35 years in jail. This is insane.