MOST of us know that we have a criminal justice system that rewards confession with leniency. Many are less aware of the coin’s other side — that the few who contemplate asking a judge and jury to decide whether they are guilty are threatened with far greater punishment solely for exercising their right to a trial.

In the Aaron Swartz case, the US attorney apparently offered six months but threatened many years. Such a disparity has nothing to do with determining guilt and appropriate sentencing, and everything to do with protecting the overwhelming power of the prosecution and its interest in coercing the vast majority of defendants to plead guilty.