An Open Letter to Carmen Ortiz and Stephen Heymann
Aaron Swartz was an amazing man, a genius, and more importantly someone who fought for what was right.
The last few days have been a horribly sad and hectic time. I am sure it has been the same for you. I wanted to write this letter to you right after we all found out about Aaron’s death, but I thought that waiting until I had cooled down would be a wise decision. Cooling down period over, it is time to speak my mind.
What you have done should be considered murder in this country. Nothing about your prosecution of Aaron Swartz was just. I have to wonder how many other people in a similar position to his you have put in prison. How many people who do not deserve prison time are currently sitting in a cell wondering why you did this to them? The world would be a far better place with less people like you in positions of power. Everything about your process and methods in this case, and seemingly in every other one you have ever been attached to, is horrible. Your tactics reek of coercion. The law, this country, and by extension the entire world would be better off without you around.
I would love for you turn yourselves in to the authorities, to resign from your posts and accept the just punishments for your crimes not only against Aaron but against all of us who are devastated by his loss. But the system has been so poisoned by generations of terrible people such as yourselves that there is no chance of justice for you through the system.
If only someone would go after you for your real crimes as harshly as you went after Aaron for his imagined ones, I can only guess that you would end up with the death penalty. Knowing that you won’t actually kill yourselves over this how about something else? Maybe you could take a long hard look at the laws you abuse and realize just how bad they are. The laws pertaining to computer crime in this country are broken, and have been for many years. The only way to begin any road to redemption is through legislative change. Use the power you so readily weild against the public to sway the law makers and get us the change we need.
For everyone else, we should use this event to fix a lot of the problems that led us here. Marcia Hofmann’s article title “How To Honor Aaron Swartz”[1] is one of the best pieces written on this topic. Everyone should read that and talk to their representatives. Everyone should sign the petition to remove Carmen Ortiz from office[2]. The next thing I think everyone interested in this should read is Lawrence Lessig’s article “Prosecutor As Bully”[3]. Last but definitely not least is something we should all be aware of called Jury Nullifcation[4][5].
Links:
[1] – How To Honor Aaron Swartz
[2] – Petition
[3] – Prosecutor As Bully
[4] – http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Jury_nullification
[5] – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_nullification
Image by Dave King
Well said, brother.
Aaron has given us something powerful at the cost of his life… he has given society another wake-up call and perhaps enough moral outrage finally heal the stark contrast between how the justice department treats idealistic heroes versus selfish corrupt banksters…
While the banksters at HBNC are let off without even prosecution for wire fraud and money laundering… These prosecuters go after him with the self-righteous quote “stealing is stealing” – well no… no it isn’t.
These prosecutors stole a life from a promising young man. So if you steal whether it be with a crowbar or legal harassment it’s still stealing right? … Aaron only took too many articles from a digital library and these prosecutors tried to take 35 years from him… but due to their reckless bullying, now they’ve stole his life… what should that get them?
I held back a lot in this post. I had written something with far more expletives, but others helped edit it down.
An Open Letter to Carmen Ortiz and Stephen Heymann http://t.co/MEq3PiHG “Nothing about your prosecution of Aaron Swartz was just”
It is a shame we live in a world with prosecutors who value career advancement over the lives of citizens. Who do not value freedom as Americans should. They destroyed Aaron, a genius with code who could have been this generation’s Martin Luther King. It will not be forgotten. The prosecutors in this case deserve to be remembered with James Earl Ray, as they achieved the same goal and deserve the same fate.
The law may be on your side now, but there are more of us than you. And we vote.
It is the Criminal Justice system as a whole which is broken. Among many other issues, Prosecutors wield incredible power because they have ZERO accountabiity. They can persecute, railroad and prosecute any factually and actually innocent person (stating innocence without qualifiers in not sufficient for their kind) and suffer ABSOLUTELY no consequences whatsoever, not even if the innocent person is demonstrably proven without doubt innocent. They pay no fine, receive no reprimand, bestow not any type of redress for the victim of both the State and the Prosecutor. They are despots treading over the lives of many unfortunate enough to be a suitable target to serve their self-aggrandizment and personal ambitions.
An Open Letter to Carmen Ortiz and Stephen Heymann http://t.co/iEnr2G4t #AaronSwartz #JusticeForAaron from @GreggHoush Also, follow him.
Good read http://t.co/apAxWXBx
@JasonLeopold Then said #USDA needs to read @GreggHoush poignantly searing letter http://t.co/pZAzmtBY
Liar definitely sums this up. I can think of at least a few people that fit that job desxcription but this was a good read.
@GreggHoush http://t.co/iGb5CId0hc Great Article. Nothing but good points.
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!