> I can't make myself blame the prosecutors involved when most federal prosecutors are similarly heavy-handed

I can. Just because there are 1000 bullies doesn't make each one of them less of a bully. The system has its constraints but it is still up some human to pick cases from the pile and decide if and how many charges to press.

Now it seems the country is a in a pretty good state if there are no harsher and more terrible criminals left to prosecute than a 25 year old downloading scientific articles, which even the original victim claims have been retrieved and there is no need to do anything.

Whoever authorized the prosecution of that case and spent tax money on it, and everyone else in between who _didn't_ say "Wait a minute, this is crazy, surely there are some cases to spend the money on" is responsible.