Prosecutor pursuing Aaron Swartz linked to suicide of another hacker

You'd be amazed by what people will construe as a fraud worthy of prosecuting. Even the most socially accepted dishonesties all of a sudden become a serious federal crime when another crime is involved. A prosecutor will tack on multiple charges just in case they can't pin them for the primacy crime they believe the accused is guilty of. It's never about finding out the truth, but about finding the accused guilty of a crime the prosecutor believes the accused actually committed prior to reviewing the evidence and confirming that fight.

Or basically, "I personally believe the accused committed crime X, so I'm going to nail him regardless of the evidence. And just in case the evidence doesn't support what I believe or is inconclusive, I'm going to go ahead and charge him with several other crimes of little to no social consequence by themselves, since if I fail to convict of crime X, I know I can nail him for some of these minor crimes."

When prosecutors tack on every crime they can imagine, they are simply admitting that they simply want to put the person away at any cost.

That being said, without more details of what this alleged credit card fraud entails, I'm naturally skeptical of the charges. Wasn't JJ the guy who got caught, cooperated with the FBI and then was "thrown under the bus" so to speak by his handlers at the FBI?

Already discussed three days ago http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5049881

Thats the most stupidest argument I have ever read. Please consult a psychologist.

Seems like we need a prosecutor with the zeal of Stephen Heymann to go after Stephen Heymann. This guy's history has a smell. Two suicides? Maybe there's something more going on? Maybe not, but it's worth a look.

Rapists and murderers commit their crimes in the context of close interaction with their victims. Criminal hackers are the opposite. For most of them any form of social interaction, especially the forced one with the law enforcement personnel will be extremely stressful.

I think that even "basic interaction with the law system" would qualify as a mild form of psychological torture for hackers. Imagine keeping a drug addicted rapist in solitary confinement for a month with no drugs, in a windowless cell, preventing him from even masturbating or smth like that - I think this would be closer to the psychological equivalent of the stress "hackers" experience when interacting with the law system! (ok, maybe I'm exaggerating with this example but I don't know enough about drug addicted rapists' psychology to construct a better one)

Jonathan James wrote in his suicide note "Either way, I have lost control over this situation and this is my only way to regain control". For him, the lack of control and predictability of his future, induced by interaction with the law system was painful enough to make him commit suicide! People are very different and respond very differently to stress - my "basic family social interactions" may mean "psychological torture" to you! :)