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There is also this one, whose goal is to "Posthumously pardon Aaron Swartz" to "send a strong message about the improportionality with which he was prosecuted":
by Wingman4l7 14y ago
There is also this one, whose goal is to "Posthumously pardon Aaron Swartz" to "send a strong message about the improportionality with which he was prosecuted": https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/posthumously-pardon-aaron-swartz/DVpdmSBj https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/posthumously-pardo...
While I have mixed feelings about the idea of governments pardoning people who should never have been prosecuted in the first place (think of Turing -- why should the government get to absolve themselves of their misdeeds so easily?), this petition might be more likely to get a real response than ones calling for the reprimand or firing of high-level government employees.
- 3825 14y agoI thought the idea with Turing's pardon was that pardoning him implies that he did something wrong which is clearly not the case. What do you think about this argument?
- Wingman4l7 14y agoThere is that implication as well. There is also the implication (Turing again being used as the example) that only a famous person who contributed greatly to society is worthy of "forgiveness", and the government doesn't need to bother acknowledging that other "regular people" harmed under the same unjust law.
- mpyne 14y agoThe issue for that is that there's nothing to pardon, aaronsw was never convicted, which means the case will be thrown out.
- Evbn 14y agoSomeone who is not convicted cannot be pardoned.
- Wingman4l7 14y agoTrue. Improper legal term aside, I imagine that what they really mean is "issue a formal apology for this aggressive and needless prosecution".