before aaron schwartz committed suicide. federal prosecutors charged him with 13 counts of wire and computer fraud. enough to put h him behind bars for 35 years, more than any murder defendants place all for illegally downloading millions of documents available for a fee at the mit library. it has become routine for prosecutors when they decide to indict to pile on every conceivable charge you could possibly stretch the law somehow to interpret as applicable. they charge people with a lot of crimes as a way to pressure people into taking a plea deal. it just doesn t matter for them. defendants who choose trial are further squeezed at both ends of the justice system. first by grand juries which often rubber stamp the prosecution case. the court doesn t do enough to explain what they are
there are probably dozens we never hear about, right? that s right, jon. to the point that it is raising a lot of concern among legal scholars that the power of federal prosecutors and local prosecutors, too, is becoming unchecked. keep in mind aaron schwartz was facing potentially more jail time than many murder defendants even though the document he downloaded were readily available to anybody at mit library. the public knows when police make an arrest and investigate a crime there are safeguards in place and the same when it goes to trial. when a prosecutor considering charges against a defendant it is all happening behind closed doors. there is absolutely no protection. they have total discretion and because the criminal laws are so complicated, it s very easy for prosecutors who just want to get somebody to start looking for laws they may have broken and if you investigate basically any american you will find they committed some sort of felony, probably without knowing it. r
russian foreign minister to discuss north carolina and syria. in the zeal to apply justice do some prosecutors create injustice? a question that some are asking tonight after the tragic end to a promising life. correspondent doug mckelway has tonight s regulation nation report. before aaron schwartz committed suicide, federal prosecutors charmed him with 13 counts of wire and computer fraud to put him behind bars for 35 years. more than many murder defendants face. for illegally downloading academic documents available for a fee at the m.i.t. library. it s become routine for prosecutors when they decide to indict to pile on every conceivable charge you could possibly stretch the law.