

At Behest of Judge, U.S. Shortens Man’s 57-Year Mandatory Sentence - ghshephard
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/30/nyregion/at-judges-behest-us-shortens-mans-57-year-mandatory-sentence.html

======
ghshephard
_Prosecutors offered him an 11-year plea deal that he turned down after his
lawyer persuaded him that he would be acquitted at trial. Mr. Holloway lost.

For the first conviction on the gun count, the law required Mr. Holloway to
receive five years. But for the second and third convictions, the law required
20 years for each one, served consecutively, in accordance with the stacking
requirement."_

I frequently hear an argument from people on HN who insist that Aaron Swartz
did not face a long prison sentence, and that the use of "stacking" makes it
seem longer than it really is.

Here's a counter example of stacking resulting in a long prison sentence.

Also - more on the use of "Stacking" by federal prosecutors:

[http://rt.com/usa/swartz-computer-law-cfaa-010/](http://rt.com/usa/swartz-
computer-law-cfaa-010/)

~~~
anigbrowl
I've made that argument, but I feel compelled to point out that the vast
majority of stacking/mandatory sentencing provisions apply to violent crimes,
and exist specifically to deter violence and the use of weapons in commission
of crimes, as well as to deter drug crimes (which is not to say that this
deterrent effect works in practice - I don't think it does, much).

I'd be happy to discuss this but we need to refer to some better source than
Russia Today, whose journalistic standards are execrable. Take this quote for
example...

 _The CFAA, said Auernheimer, was written and approved by then-President
Ronald Reagan “at a time when he was so senile” that he thought Hollywood’s
interpretation of compute hackers was an accurate portrayal._

Reagan signed the CFAA, but the idea that he wrote it is ludicrous. Then
again, Weev loves to troll.

