It's famous for several reasons, which you are surely aware of.
The most obvious is that the suicide of a well-known, brilliant, and promising young activist gets people's attention. It's natural for people to mourn, to some extent, and to wonder what he could have done with the rest of his life had he not ended it. It is a very sad thing.
Also, it brought to a lot of people's attention, including mine, some of the problems with both the CFAA specifically and with the way that federal prosecutors routinely abuse their discretion generally. Orin Kerr discusses both of these points in the second part of the piece you linked to [0]. I'll quote one passage:
On the third question, the issue of who was to blame if the prosecution was too severe, I think it’s important to realize that what happened in the Swartz case happens it lots and lots of federal criminal cases. Yes, the prosecutors tried to force a plea deal by scaring the defendant with arguments that he would be locked away for a long time if he was convicted at trial. Yes, the prosecutors filed a superseding indictment designed to scare Swartz evem more in to pleading guilty (it actually had no effect on the likely sentence, but it’s a powerful scare tactic). Yes, the prosecutors insisted on jail time and a felony conviction as part of a plea. But it is not particularly surprising for federal prosecutors to use those tactics. What’s unusual about the Swartz case is that it involved a highly charismatic defendant with very powerful friends in a position to object to these common practices. That’s not to excuse what happened, but rather to direct the energy that is angry about what happened. If you want to end these tactics, don’t just complain about the Swartz case. Don’t just complain when the defendant happens to be a brilliant guy who went to Stanford and hangs out with Larry Lessig. Instead, complain that this is business as usual in federal criminal cases around the country — mostly with defendants who no one has ever heard of and who get locked up for years without anyone else much caring.
I agree wholeheartedly. But for many of us, it was the Swartz case that brought this issue to our attention in a big way. I think it is natural for us to associate the issue with Swartz even if we agree with Kerr that the problem is hardly confined to this one instance.
As for the CFAA itself, Kerr argues, and I again agree, that the provision triggering felony liability is much too broad. Had the statute been reformed as Kerr suggests, Swartz might not have been looking at a felony charge. I agree that Swartz should have faced some punishment, even if just a misdemeanor conviction and probation. It's really the looming felony conviction that Swartz was unable to swallow, and I am too. It highlights how the federal criminal law has grown into a monster.
If you want another case that shows the same thing and should also be famous, the George Norris felony orchid smuggling case [1] would be a great choice.
The most obvious is that the suicide of a well-known, brilliant, and promising young activist gets people's attention. It's natural for people to mourn, to some extent, and to wonder what he could have done with the rest of his life had he not ended it. It is a very sad thing.
Also, it brought to a lot of people's attention, including mine, some of the problems with both the CFAA specifically and with the way that federal prosecutors routinely abuse their discretion generally. Orin Kerr discusses both of these points in the second part of the piece you linked to [0]. I'll quote one passage:
On the third question, the issue of who was to blame if the prosecution was too severe, I think it’s important to realize that what happened in the Swartz case happens it lots and lots of federal criminal cases. Yes, the prosecutors tried to force a plea deal by scaring the defendant with arguments that he would be locked away for a long time if he was convicted at trial. Yes, the prosecutors filed a superseding indictment designed to scare Swartz evem more in to pleading guilty (it actually had no effect on the likely sentence, but it’s a powerful scare tactic). Yes, the prosecutors insisted on jail time and a felony conviction as part of a plea. But it is not particularly surprising for federal prosecutors to use those tactics. What’s unusual about the Swartz case is that it involved a highly charismatic defendant with very powerful friends in a position to object to these common practices. That’s not to excuse what happened, but rather to direct the energy that is angry about what happened. If you want to end these tactics, don’t just complain about the Swartz case. Don’t just complain when the defendant happens to be a brilliant guy who went to Stanford and hangs out with Larry Lessig. Instead, complain that this is business as usual in federal criminal cases around the country — mostly with defendants who no one has ever heard of and who get locked up for years without anyone else much caring.
I agree wholeheartedly. But for many of us, it was the Swartz case that brought this issue to our attention in a big way. I think it is natural for us to associate the issue with Swartz even if we agree with Kerr that the problem is hardly confined to this one instance.
As for the CFAA itself, Kerr argues, and I again agree, that the provision triggering felony liability is much too broad. Had the statute been reformed as Kerr suggests, Swartz might not have been looking at a felony charge. I agree that Swartz should have faced some punishment, even if just a misdemeanor conviction and probation. It's really the looming felony conviction that Swartz was unable to swallow, and I am too. It highlights how the federal criminal law has grown into a monster.
If you want another case that shows the same thing and should also be famous, the George Norris felony orchid smuggling case [1] would be a great choice.
[0] http://www.volokh.com/2013/01/16/the-criminal-charges-agains...
[1] http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/07/the-unlikel...