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Except defending himself would have cost on the order of a million dollars (Per Lessig) - does he go to his family for that? Even if he turns out to be found c
by ghshephard 14y ago
Except defending himself would have cost on the order of a million dollars (Per Lessig) - does he go to his family for that? Even if he turns out to be found completely innocent, him, his family, and those who he can turn to would have been wiped out financially. That part of the story doesn't get enough attention.
- jstevens85 14y agoIf he accepted the plea bargain of six months, then the case wouldn't have gone to trial, avoiding the excessive legal fees. I don't understand the timeline, but had he accepted the plea bargain, is it not possible that he would have already served his sentence by now?
- BrokenPipe 14y agoMaybe. The point is that you shouldn't submit to 6 months of federal prison without trial or appeal, all the money loss for the two years in the case and your life ruined by the felony counts records for using a script to download files you already have legal access to. At worst all there is to this is trespassing, on an open campus on an open network etc etc.
- mbesto 14y agoYou're probably right, you shouldn't, but unless you offer up a better suggestion for a law system, it is it what it is.
- BrokenPipe 14y agoYeah, no more crazy law and no bargaining on future lives.
- peteretep 14y agoHow about the one the rest of the civilized world uses? Which is: not mixing politics and prosecution. Check out the British version of government prosecutions: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_Prosecution_Service http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_Prosecution_Service Where "controversial" is "oooh, should we change the name?!?".
- BrokenPipe 14y agoThe american system is one of the worst in western society, granted, but the British one is not that much better at all. Some claim is worst. I never had the misfortune of having to try that on my skin but heard from friends and family. How's the system in Iceland ? Or Norway ?
- jacquesm 14y ago> avoiding the excessive legal fees. From all the information that I've seen so far it looks as if the legal fees were plenty excessive already.
- gadders 14y agoNot sure - how do non-famous defendants without millionaire friends and that haven't sold a start-up fund their cases? He could try that.
- thebooktocome 14y agoThey get incompetent public defenders.
- glurgh 14y agoNot at the federal level. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/14/us/14defenders.html?_r=2&ref=us&oref=slogin& http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/14/us/14defenders.html?_r=2&#...;
- pmorici 14y agoThis article brings up an interesting point in general that paying for a lawyer by the hour doesn't align the incentives of the lawyer with the client. If I were going to hire a lawyer I'd want to do it on a salaried + bonus if you win basis.
- Kliment 14y agoThey tend to accept a plea bargain even if innocent.
- gadders 14y agoSucks, but I suspect you're right. He's not alone in that though.