In our eyes, there is little doubt that Swartz was guilty of an act of principled civil disobedience. But he was no felon. The idea of threatening Swartz with up to 35 years of prison and a fine of up to $1 million was at best misguided; at worst, it was an act of gangsterism, of unmitigated inhumanity, of torture by pinstripes.
The US Attorney's office knew that Swartz was depressed and were warned that he was a suicide risk.
To say that Swartz's blood is on the hands of the prosecutors would not be unreasonable.
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Topics:
The Editorial Page
, Aaron Swartz, Reddit, Computer Science
