SA210
01-23-2013, 07:05 AM
Wow, John Cornyn comes to the defense of Aaron Swartz on the governments attack on the activist.
Cenk of TYT does a great story here discussing the details on Swartz doing a FOIA request on how they treated Bradley Manning...
Hope/Change
"Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) sent a sharply worded letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Friday questioning the Department of Justice's prosecution of Internet activist Aaron Swartz, who was found dead of a suspected suicide last week after fighting federal hacking charges for two years...".* The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur breaks it down, including the link to Wikileaks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJxSDlfWp_g
The Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/18/john-cornyn-eric-holder-aaron-swartz... (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/18/john-cornyn-eric-holder-aaron-swartz_n_2505528.html)
John Cornyn Criticizes Eric Holder Over Aaron Swartz's Death
WASHINGTON -- Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) sent a sharply worded letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder (http://www.cornyn.senate.gov/public/?a=Files.Serve&File_id=74c0afb3-1bc2-49f5-9150-0a8f004ef438) on Friday questioning the Department of Justice's prosecution of Internet activist Aaron Swartz, who was found dead of a suspected suicide last week after fighting federal hacking charges for two years.
Cornyn wrote that he was "saddened" by Swartz's "tragic" death, and raised aggressive questions about the appropriateness of the federal case against him. The office of U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz charged Swartz, 26, with 13 felony counts for downloading millions of academic journal articles from the online database JSTOR. Although the scope of the simultaneous downloads violated JSTOR's terms of service agreement, Swartz had legal access to the articles through his JSTOR account. JSTOR did not press charges against Swartz and urged the prosecution to drop their case against him.
"As you are doubtless aware, Mr. Swartz was facing an aggressive prosecution by the Department of Justice when he took his own life," Cornyn wrote, saying that the fact Swartz would have faced decades in prison if convicted "raises important questions about prosecutorial conduct."
Cornyn, a staunch conservative, also praised the strength of Swartz's moral convictions. Swartz was a leading progressive political activist.
"Mr. Swartz was, among other things, a brilliant technologist and a committed activist for the causes in which he believed – including, notably, the freedom of information," Cornyn wrote.
Cornyn, the Senate minority whip, joins House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/17/aaron-swartz-prosecution_n_2498586.html) in speaking out against the Swartz case. Issa has launched a probe into DOJ's handling of the affair, while Lofgren is pressing for legislation that would declassify terms of services violations as a crime. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) also issued a statement (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/15/darrell-issa-aaron-swartz-_n_2481450.html) this week praising Swartz's character and life's work.
Read the full text (http://www.cornyn.senate.gov/public/?a=Files.Serve&File_id=74c0afb3-1bc2-49f5-9150-0a8f004ef438) of Cornyn's letter to Holder:
Cenk of TYT does a great story here discussing the details on Swartz doing a FOIA request on how they treated Bradley Manning...
Hope/Change
"Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) sent a sharply worded letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Friday questioning the Department of Justice's prosecution of Internet activist Aaron Swartz, who was found dead of a suspected suicide last week after fighting federal hacking charges for two years...".* The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur breaks it down, including the link to Wikileaks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJxSDlfWp_g
The Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/18/john-cornyn-eric-holder-aaron-swartz... (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/18/john-cornyn-eric-holder-aaron-swartz_n_2505528.html)
John Cornyn Criticizes Eric Holder Over Aaron Swartz's Death
WASHINGTON -- Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) sent a sharply worded letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder (http://www.cornyn.senate.gov/public/?a=Files.Serve&File_id=74c0afb3-1bc2-49f5-9150-0a8f004ef438) on Friday questioning the Department of Justice's prosecution of Internet activist Aaron Swartz, who was found dead of a suspected suicide last week after fighting federal hacking charges for two years.
Cornyn wrote that he was "saddened" by Swartz's "tragic" death, and raised aggressive questions about the appropriateness of the federal case against him. The office of U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz charged Swartz, 26, with 13 felony counts for downloading millions of academic journal articles from the online database JSTOR. Although the scope of the simultaneous downloads violated JSTOR's terms of service agreement, Swartz had legal access to the articles through his JSTOR account. JSTOR did not press charges against Swartz and urged the prosecution to drop their case against him.
"As you are doubtless aware, Mr. Swartz was facing an aggressive prosecution by the Department of Justice when he took his own life," Cornyn wrote, saying that the fact Swartz would have faced decades in prison if convicted "raises important questions about prosecutorial conduct."
Cornyn, a staunch conservative, also praised the strength of Swartz's moral convictions. Swartz was a leading progressive political activist.
"Mr. Swartz was, among other things, a brilliant technologist and a committed activist for the causes in which he believed – including, notably, the freedom of information," Cornyn wrote.
Cornyn, the Senate minority whip, joins House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/17/aaron-swartz-prosecution_n_2498586.html) in speaking out against the Swartz case. Issa has launched a probe into DOJ's handling of the affair, while Lofgren is pressing for legislation that would declassify terms of services violations as a crime. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) also issued a statement (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/15/darrell-issa-aaron-swartz-_n_2481450.html) this week praising Swartz's character and life's work.
Read the full text (http://www.cornyn.senate.gov/public/?a=Files.Serve&File_id=74c0afb3-1bc2-49f5-9150-0a8f004ef438) of Cornyn's letter to Holder: