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Well, he's wrong about this. Quoting the maximum statutory penalty is the standard in news releases, but tells you exactly zero about the negotiations in attorney conferences. US attorneys don't write the press releases, those are done by the most junior lawyers and quote the statutory maximum because it's factual without giving anything away about the government's courtroom strategy.
Linus is dead wrong on this. We have independent confirmation of everything that Ortiz said from the Boston Globe's interview with Aaron's defense attorney. The maximum statutory penalty for the original 4 indictments was 35 years. The prosecutor was planning to seek 6-7 years. There were two plea bargains offered, one was 4 months and no disputing the period, the other was 6 months but the defense attorney would be…
How does this advance the debate?
Well, he's wrong about this. Quoting the maximum statutory penalty is the standard in news releases, but tells you exactly zero about the negotiations in attorney conferences. US attorneys don't write the press releases, those are done by the most junior lawyers and quote the statutory maximum because it's factual without giving anything away about the government's courtroom strategy.
> US attorneys don't write the press releases, those are done by the most junior lawyers Does it matter who wrote it? It came from her office, she approved it, and therefore she said it.
Are either of those clauses accurate?
[1] Did Ortiz really not understand that pretty much everything Swartz did in in the second half of his life was both prolific and for the greater good on a very large scale?
Ortiz recently: "At no time did this office ever seek ... maximum penalties under the law."
Justice.gov previously: "SWARTZ faces up to 35 years in prison..."
At a minimum it's a bad PR screw-up on their part and they're backpedaling because their "make us look tough" press releases have backfired.
Most people vaguely familiar with the case would think there is a threat of a 35 year sentence, as many recent posts on HN indicate. Would Aaron & his legal team think so too? Probably not.
Well, he's wrong about this. Quoting the maximum statutory penalty is the standard in news releases, but tells you exactly zero about the negotiations in attorney conferences. US attorneys don't write the press releases, those are done by the most junior lawyers and quote the statutory maximum because it's factual without giving anything away about the government's courtroom strategy.
What if there was no mention of the penalty they were seeking in negotiations or it was left highly ambiguous? In that situation I could see a public press release announcing that you might face 35 years in prison as quite threatening.
At least Linus commented on this very sensitive issue. Not sure why PG has not said anything publicly when he knew and has worked with Aaron during Reddit.
I find your comment bizarre.
> this very sensitive issue.
> Not sure why PG has not said anything publicly
Why should PG talk publicly about the death by suicide of someone he knew?