In the wake of the tragic suicide of Aaron Swartz, the United States Attorney decided to formally drop the pending charges against the 26-year-old information hacktivist.
"In support of this dismissal, the government states that Mr. Swartz died on January 11, 2013," wrote Carmen Ortiz, the United States Attorney for the District Court of Massachusetts.
Swartz faced legal charges after he infamously downloaded a huge cache of documents from JSTOR. Over the weekend, Swartz' family said the aggressive legal tactics of the US Attorney's office contributed to his suicide.
The outpouring of grief has continued well into Monday, as even those who didn't know Swartz well (myself included) are shocked that someone so young and talented could feel so much pressure from the justice system that he would be compelled to take his own life. One computer engineering student, John Atkinson, wrote an eloquent post on Sunday that Swartz' death has been on his mind over the last few days—even though he didn't know Swartz personally, nor had he heard of Swartz prior to the arrest.
Aaron Swartz is what I wish I was. I am a bright technologist, but I’ve never built anything of note. I have strong opinions about how to improve this world, but I’ve never acted to bring them to pass. I have thoughts every day that I would share with the world, but I allow my fears to convince me to keep them to myself. If I were able to stop being afraid of what the world would think of me, I could see myself making every decision that Aaron made that ultimately led to his untimely death. This upsets me immensely. I am upset that we have a justice system that would persecute me the way it did Aaron. I am upset that I have spent 27 years of my life having made no discernible difference to the world around me. Most of all I am upset that Aaron’s work here is done when there is so much more he could have accomplished.
Swartz's funeral will be held in Highland Park, Illinois on Tuesday, January 15, 2013 at 10am CST—many tech luminaries, family, and friends are expected to be in attendance.
Update: A new petition asks the White House to remove Ortiz. "A prosecutor who does not understand proportionality and who regularly uses the threat of unjust and overreaching charges to extort plea bargains from defendants regardless of their guilt is a danger to the life and liberty of anyone who might cross her path," it says, in part. It currently has 17,000 of the 25,000 signatures needed to secure a response.
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