
Posthumously pardon Aaron Swartz - jakewalker
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/posthumously-pardon-aaron-swartz/DVpdmSBj?utm_source=wh.gov&utm_medium=shorturl&utm_campaign=shorturl
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daeken
No. No, no, no, no, no. I will miss Aaron more than I can say -- he was a
great guy, an excellent developer, and one hell of an activist -- but a pardon
does not do _anything_ valuable. It doesn't bring him back, it doesn't make
the world a better place, and most importantly, it doesn't _stop this shit
from happening in the future_. We need to make sure that no one is ever in a
position like this again, and make some serious changes. Being exonerated
feels great when you're alive, but Aaron won't feel that now; let's follow in
his footsteps and make this world a better place.

~~~
nostromo
No. Prosecutors pay attention to pardons. It's a bit of slap in the face.
That's what these prosecutors deserve. A clear sign that they overreached.

Prosecutors also often run for office later in their career (see Elliot
Spitzer). They use their conviction history to show how badass they are. These
prosecutors need to have the privilege of adding "convicted high-profile
hackers" to their resume revoked.

If pardoning isn't appropriate in this case, a simple statement from the
president or Department of Justice would be welcome.

~~~
zaidf
Probably unlikely in near term given the possibility that Aaron's family may
sue the USA.

~~~
anoncow
Which would be an excellent thing to do.

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jeremysmyth
_President Obama has the power to issue a posthumous pardon of Mr. Swartz
(even though he was never tried or convicted)._

This kinda says it all. He _can't_ be pardoned, having never been convicted.
While there are many good and beneficial things that can be done, this one is
impossible.

~~~
charonn0
Not true: Ford pardoned Nixon even though Nixon was never impeached, tried, or
charged criminally for anything.

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vannevar
In that case, Ford pardoned Nixon to prevent a trial, where a conviction was
still possible. In this case, there will never be a trial, and hence, no
possibility of a conviction. It's a well-meaning sentiment, but a pardon is
not applicable here. Better to lobby against the laws Swartz was accused of
violating.

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pasbesoin
The Obama Administration is the one needing a pardon -- not Swartz.

They shouldn't be placed in the position of having the opportunity to "excuse"
his activity.

Rather, they should have to explain their own.

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kumarshantanu
This petition seems more appropriate:
[https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/remove-united-
stat...](https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/remove-united-states-
district-attorney-carmen-ortiz-office-overreach-case-aaron-swartz/RQNrG1Ck)

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rdl
How about if instead we have 11 January as "Aaron Swartz Freedom to Connect"
day, or something like that, dedicated to free speech and free expression.
Stuff Aaron would have done himself, even if the federal prosecution had never
happened. Combined with a formal apology from President Obama and the AG, and
removal of Ortiz and several other prosecutors within the Boston office.

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josh_fyi
He does not need a pardon. A pardon means that you did the crime, you are
guilty -- also, it is usually conditional on your confession and statement of
regret.

Martin Luther King never asked to be pardoned for his acts of civil
disobedience.

The truth to be trumpeted is that he is "guilty" -- Aaron violated some very
minor rules, and that we should admire him for that.

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rmc
Be very careful. One doesn't want to send a signal to people contemplating
suicide that everything will go away if they complete suicide.

~~~
pekk
Everything did go away for Aaron Swartz, because he's dead. You aren't going
to discourage people from suicide by being harder on the dead. And I don't
think it's at all cool to imply that he got what was coming to him.

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ck2
Obama should rather pardon Bradley Manning before something else is done to
him in military prison.

We sadly cannot do anything for Aaron now.

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guelo
Obama is not friendly to our point of view. He has been an enemy of free
information. He goes after whistle blowers with full force. He has threatened
reporters with espionage. He wants Bradley Manning to die in jail.

~~~
rprasad
Pvt. Manning leaked classified information while serving as a member of the
armed forces. Members of the US Military are subject to significantly higher
standards of conduct than are civilians.

Pvt. Manning should consider himself lucky that he's dealing with Obama rather
than Bush/Cheney, or it is likely that he would be facing charges of treason
and a death penalty rather than just life imprisonment.

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rprasad
Zero percent change of happening: _you cannot pardon someone who was not
adjudicated guilty of a crime (by conviction or by a guilty plea)._

Aaron died before his case was finally adjudicated (i.e, until all appeals
were exhausted), so like the Enron guy, in the eyes of the law, he is not and
never can be guilty of the crimes he was charged with.

Again, for emphasis: you cannot pardon someone without a conviction.

~~~
wl
Nixon was pardoned and charges weren't even filed against him.

This is not without precedent.

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smackfu
Nixon was pardoned against future charges. The dead can have no future
criminal charges. A pardon would be the same as the government just issuing a
formal apology.

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maeon3
Many people don't realize that programmers are far more sensitive than the
average person. We ran away from people, and escaped into the wonderful world
of computing because everything synchronizes, there is harmony and greatness
in mathematics. And when we deal with the slightest form of human offence,
it's as if the other person is our own mind, telling us that we are a burden
to society, and it is our time to be killed, as simply as the body tells cells
out-of-place to die.

Programmers need to disconnect and not let the external environment become
part of us. Sometimes I let other people's minds become part of my mind. I
think it's a profound glimpse into how programmers can use our motor neurons
to actually "be" a compiler in software, and to anticipate how it works.

Unconsciously we do the same things with other humans, and there are ways that
humans can take over that process and their disapproval of us is like our own
mind finding disapproval for a system inside it that must be destroyed. With
the proper scenarios, make programmers suicidal, when they can utter the
proper dark magic incantation, we do a cost benefit analysis and decide that
suicide does remove the defective systems. rm -rf /

I think the takeaway here is that some of the best programmers tend to have
serious problems separating the directives of self from the directives of
others. You have to learn that we are not computers, and the good of the many
is not always preferable to the good of the few.

~~~
poppysan
I don't like the stereoyype of the nerdy recluse programmer. Sure there are
many of them, but just as many socially-comfortable programmers. The
generalizations can be harmful and lead people away from the stigma, and away
from the field.

