KenPopehat

O Christ.

Stacksort. I . . . I'm sorry.

Really.

Can I get you some Starbucks Java Chip?

I am a partner at a law firm.

Therefore, convention requires the following:

1. I would rather fight 100 duck-sized trolls.

2. At 4:45 PM on the Friday of a holiday weekend I will assign associates to fight 97 of the trolls, telling them I need them to be done by Tuesday morning. Ideally they will have plans for the weekend.

3. I will roll into the office Tuesday afternoon not having answered any of their emails or calls with questions about fighting the duck-sized trolls.

4. I will fight the last 3 duck-sized trolls myself, and then take credit for the whole thing.

I know lol

Wow, what a huge question! And an important one.

Short answer -- it's much more complicated than anyone is spinning it to be.

Second part of the answer: I'm working up the courage to write about Aaron Swartz. Not about federal criminal justice. About depression. We'll see if I have the nads for it.

Third part: As a defense attorney, what's frustrating is seeing so many smart people devoted to the idea that Swartz was singled out for unusually harsh or unfair treatment. He wasn't. People get treated just as badly, or worse, by the federal system all the time with zero attention. And the federal system is like the motherfucking Ritz Carlton compared to the state system.

It happens for a wide variety of complex factors. Among them: 1. Personal ambition by line prosecutors and chief prosecutors. 2. Ignorance or hostility about the substantive issues (like hacking). 3. Lack of client control -- where the federal agency is the client. 4. Cultural blindness to issues that might cause prosecutors and agents to see things from a defense perspective. 5. The ignorance or indifference of media and society. 6. Inconsistent quality of the defense bar. 7. Too few judges being aggressive in defense of rights.

And so on. Sorry, but I could write 10,000 words and not start to touch this. A narrower question would be easier.

Thanks! I love you too, in a way that is completely appropriate to those people reading who are my wife.