[governance] Aaron Swartz - a bit of a meta reply

[Suresh Ramasubramanian]

Hi again (especially, greetings Riaz)

Is there anything relevant that we can bring from this unfortunate incident into the igov arena, or vice versa?  Lessons that igov can learn from the situation, or that it can contribute?  

Preferably, i would appreciate an answer that avoids the use of the usual cliches such as "exceptionalism", political positioning or characterization of this as a north vs south issue.  In some countries of the south the poor fellow would have faced custodial torture, judges and prosecutors whose only exposure to computers is gmail and ms office, at best .. so please let us not get into that,

I agree with paul in his recent post, that prosecutorial immunity here is absolute, with the only caveat that US attorneys are elected / appointed and can be removed by the president, while assistant US attorneys are civil servants. Any sanctions against the US attorney Ms Ortiz would be balanced against her previous track record of successfully putting behind bars several politicians and city officials for corruption and bribery.

The assistant US attorneys on her staff who pushed for wire fraud charges and a plea bargain, if sanctioned for mishandling this case, would at the most end up facing administrative sanctions nd/or being reassigned to other cases where their aggressiveness may be more appropriate. Prosecution, Trial and sentencing guidelines in computer crime cases will definitely evolve.  Changing the actual laws in question may not be appropriate, given that most computer crime in this day is carried out by gangs with ties to organized crime, and is unorecedented in the number of victims affected and the quantum of loss that they face.

This case has been going on since several months and I have heard multiple people say that civil society has actually failed Aaron, first by encouraging him into committing an act of Gandhian civil disobedience, perhaps not even expecting federal charges to be slapped on him for whst could have been tried in a local magistrates court as petty trespass, especially not expecting MIT, with its famed ethos, to prosecute, and then not giving him the massive amount of support he would need both as someone facing a protracted trial in federal court and the even more onerous trial of mental depression.  

Mahatma Gandhi faced decades in prison, being charged by riot police etc during his struggle. Aaron, being human and even more vulnerable by having his will sapped by depression, had neither the popular support when he was alive, nor the fortitude Gandhi had to bear the suffering imposed on him.

--srs (iPad)
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