US Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz broke her silence late Wednesday night and defended her office’s actions against Aaron Swartz, the open information advocate who took his life last week while facing federal charges for hacking into MIT’s computer network.
Ortiz, who charged the 26-year-old Swartz with offenses including wire and computer fraud, has faced a firestorm of criticism in the wake of Swartz’s hanging himself inside his Brooklyn, N.Y., apartment, on Friday.
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The outcome demonstrates that the prosecutors did not act appropriately, but merely legally. A prosecutor's job is to find justice in the circumstances, and sometimes that requires prosecution. Or anyway, that's what a system worth admiration would do. Instead, perhaps, we live in a polarized, a black & white world - zero tolerance. I pity Ms Ortiz - she will at some point realize she and her team didn't notice the circumstances and as a result a potentially important man is dead.
Great post! One thing, though: I'd say Aaron Swartz was already an important man, at 26. He had a huge impact by fighting SOPA.
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