MN-Sen: Al Franken (D) Presses Eric Holder On Aaron Swartz Prosecution

Senator Al Franken (D. MN) joins the fight to find out more about prosecution of Reddit founder, Aaron Swartz, that lead to his suicide:

http://www.forbes.com/...

Al Franken, the Junior Senator of the State of Minnesota and Chair of the Judiciary Comittee Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law, has added his voice to those expressing interest in the unpicking of the Department of Justice’s decision to prosecute Aaron Swartz.

Swartz, a young programmer and activist facing federal prosecution and imprisonment for downloading a large number of articles from JSTOR, the repository for academic papers, from within MIT’s network, took his own life in January of this year.

Claiming intent to disseminate these documents without attention to their license restrictions, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts brought charges of computer fraud. These were then superseded by an indictment by the US Attorney’s Office of 11 charges of computer fraud under the under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), and two counts of wire fraud, a statute originally designed to combat attempts to defraud by telegram. - Forbes, 3/25/13

Franken sent Attorney General Eric Holder a letter requesting more

http://www.mainjustice.com/...

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, requesting an explanation for what seemed like a “remarkably aggressive” prosecution of Internet activist Aaron Swartz, who committed suicide Jan. 11 while facing hacking charges.

“There may be disagreement on the exact merits of the case against him, but charging a young man like Mr. Swartz with federal offenses punishable by over 35 years of federal imprisonment seems remarkably aggressive — particularly when it appears that one of the principal aggrieved parties, the academic subscription service JSTOR, did not support a criminal prosecution,” wrote Franken, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Franken’s note expresses a similar sentiment to a letter sent in January by Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas), a fellow member of the Judiciary Committee. Franken asked that he be copied on the DOJ’s response to Cornyn.

Also in January, two House Members not known for bipartisan agreement — House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Ranking Member Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) — wrote to Holder asking for explanations about the manner in which prosecutors pursued Swartz. - Main Justice, 3/25/13

Here's the letter Franken sent to Holder:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...

Dear Attorney General Holder:
I am writing to associate myself with my colleague Senator John Cornyn's letter to you regarding the Department of Justice's prosecution of the late Aaron Swartz.

Mr. Swartz's passing was untimely and tragic. There may be disagreement on the exact merits of the case against him, but charging a young man like Mr. Swartz with federal offenses punishable by over 35 years of federal imprisonment seems remarkably aggressive -- particularly when it appears that one of the principal aggrieved parties, the academic subscription service JSTOR, did not support a criminal prosecution.

I respectfully ask that I be copied on your response to Senator Cornyn's letter.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Al Franken
United States Senator

I thank Senator Franken for going the effort to get answers regarding Swartz's death.  I hope Franken and his colleagues are successful in their search for the truth.  

On a lighter note, if you would like to enter yourself in the competition to have brunch with Senator Franken and Conan O'Brien, you can sign up here:

https://secure.alfranken.com/...