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Comment by Artoemius | Hacker News Reader

I'm sad Aaron Swartz did not live to see this unfolding. He might have been in prison now, but he would still be a world-class hero.

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Yes, it's sad that he would be put in jail for such a "crime" whereas the likes of the CEO of Volkswagen are actually being rewarded millions for much severe crimes in the name of punishment.

I think about that a lot (have a number of friends publishing papers in academia). Really sad.

> He might have been in prison now

For hypothetical crimes he could've committed had he lived? Because he certainly wouldn't be in prison for things he actually did.

He likely would be in Prison, because he'd be forced to plead out to lesser crimes, or face the prospect of a cripplingly expensive trial with the threat of higher sanctions.

No, that's complete bullshit.

Had Aaron pleaded guilty, he'd be out by now as both of the plea agreements he was offered would have meant 6 months or less .

And trial? Why would he have gone to trial? There was no question of his guilt.

While he might have been free by now, he would still have been labeled a felon.

I don't think anyone was questioning that.

Also FWIW, so am I and it's not all that bad.

Going to jail at all would have been an injustice. What would it have achieved?

Did I imply otherwise?

I don't personally believe it would've achieved anything, but that's how the world works.

Yes. You said "He'd be out by now". To get out means you must have been in, and jailtime is what you were responding to.

Nothing ryanlol has said even remotely indicates that Scwartz going to jail would've been a good thing.

I've reread the thread, looks like I misinterpreted the argument and owe ryanlol an apology. Sorry about that. FWIW, I didn't downvote any of his comments.

For whatever reason lots of people here seem to disagree.

Could any of the 4 downvoters clarify in what conceivable scenario would Aaron still be in prison if he was alive?

Had he pled guilty, he would undoubtedly be out by now. And going to trial obviously wasn't a realistic option considering the plea deals he was offered (BTW If someone here disagrees about that, I'd really like to know why.).

Read:

http://volokh.com/2013/01/14/aaron-swartz-charges/

http://volokh.com/2013/01/16/the-criminal-charges-against-aa...

This blanket downvoting is somewhat odd, what is it I'm saying that's so disagreeable? For afaik I've only presented facts about the time Swartz would probably have spent incarcerated.

Your first comment is open to interpretation (it doesn't say would not still or in and out of or something like that) so people are reacting pretty much entirely based on their existing emotions. They don't care about analyzing the likely outcome of the case had he lived, it's brought up to share anger and outrage over the injustice.

> They don't care about analyzing the likely outcome of the case had he lived, it's brought up to share anger and outrage over the injustice.

Precisely. He didn't have to kill himself, and if he'd put a bit more forethought into what he was doing, we'd probably be discussing this in a thread around an interview with him rather than with Ms. Elbakyan. But nobody wants to hear that, because it detracts from the story of this generation's Bobby Fischer.

FWIW, there was something about the way that comment was phrased that caused me to parse it badly, hence my response. I didn't downvote you, but perhaps it might help to explain the downvotes.

Incidentally, this is why I often dislike downvotes by those who don't comment directly on non-troll comments. It doesn't add a damned thing to sensible discourse, it just smacks of punitive actions against those they disagree with. You really notice it on certain topics, like Aaron - but for some reason it really occurs in anything Apple related.

> going to trial obviously wasn't a realistic option considering the plea deals he was offered

And that's why plea deals are an injustice. The honest are intimidated into felons, and the criminals never face a judge.

They may be, but I think Aarons case is a particularly bad example of such as I don't think there was ever any question of his guilt.

The law may not be just, but there's little doubt that he violated it.

Considering his charges, Swartz received exceptionally good plea deal offers.

> Considering his charges, Swartz received exceptionally good plea deal offers.

A non-violent crime shouldn't result in any prison time.

While I very much agree, the law says otherwise.

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