Yesterday, it became public that Stephen Heyman oversaw TWO excessive prosecutions of hacker-defendants who committed suicide, Aaron Swartz and Jonathan James.
There are multiple petitions circulating on the Internet to remove U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz and fire Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Heymann. While I agree with the sentiment behind these petitions, and have signed them, it is unlikely that they will work, especially on Heymann who enjoys immunity and the protection of civil service laws. I think our energies might be better directed at demanding serious Congressional oversight and accounting for the selective, vindictive and overzealous prosecutions of hackers and whistleblowers.