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A new White House petition has been launched to remove the US Attorney whose bullying tactics are believed to have contributed to the death of Aaron Swartz. The petition has already crossed the 25,000 threshold.
The petition states:
We Petition the Obama Administration To:
Remove United States District Attorney Carmen Ortiz from office for overreach in the case of Aaron Swartz.
It is too late to do anything for Aaron Swartz, but the who used the powers granted to them by their office to hound him into a position where he was facing a ruinous trial, life in prison and the ignominy and shame of being a convicted felon; for an alleged crime that the supposed victims did not wish to prosecute.
A prosecutor who does not understand proportionality and who regularly uses the threat of unjust and overreaching charges to extort plea bargains from defendants regardless of their guilt is a danger to the life and liberty of anyone who might cross her path.
As a US Attorney Ortiz may be removed by President Obama at any time.
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Thanks.
Signed.
Tweeted to my followers.
I signed as well.
Ditto. Signature count is over 29K as of this post.
Predicted White House response: Exactly the same as the marijuana petitions.
Boxturtle (*crickets*)
Signed yesterday, I sincerely hope the tech smart generation sees Aaron Swartz and Bradley Manning as the Ellsbergs of their generation. Aaron’s work on behalf of all of us was stellar, and he needs to be honored for it. Broadly, loudly. Rise up, revolt!
I signed as well, and told my facebook friends about this. This is so sad.
Why do I feel like I just signed up for NSA surveillance when I signed up to add my name to this petition?
You are already under surveillance so no worries. If petitions had any great effect we would be living in a much better Country at this point. But always hopeful so I’ll keep signing them.
Dunno. You, for sure, are already on the list.
Boxturtle (been on “The List” ever since I suggested Cheney was really in charge)
OK, I signed, too. And tweeted it.
I also seem to recall a petition about torture that got the “all talk and no action” response.
But that’s the essence of American freedom: we’re free to petition the government for redress of grievances and the government is free to ignore us.
You don’t have to sign up for it — it’s now part of your birthright, I believe, so long as you use a telephone, e-mail, or do web searches.
“Why do I feel like I just signed up for NSA surveillance …”
Because as a sharp observer you have recognized that this administration is wholly in the business of supressing and criminalizing dissent. Note in particular recent FOIA releases that show the extent to which the FBI and Homeland Security co-ordinated the supression of OWS.
And BSbaffle is correct; the minute you posted at FDL you made the list.
Heh. I figgured I wound up on a list when I emailed Cheney about “People better watch what they say”. In retrospect, perhaps it was a well intentioned warning from Ari Fleitcher to regular citizens that they were no longer free from government snares.
Prez drones women & kids day after day. You think he gives a rat’s ass about a bully US attorney?
Only if it makes him look bad. Which this might.
Boxturtle (Thinking about it, he might not even care about that. No more elections)
Signed this yesterday, thank you for posting.
Please, if you haven’t, listen to The Real News Aaron Swartz segment.
If you are short on time, listen to the 18:00 to about 19:50 section, and the last one minute. It is this, in a nutshell: if this administration succeeds in shutting down this new generation of intellectual fighters, it will mean the creation of a totalitarian state that will dwarf anything resembling ’1984′
Powerful stuff.
Not sure this makes O look worse than droning civilians, but internet activists are a raucus bunch. Remember Occupy and how it grew…
Om! Haven’t seen you for a while.
Going to listen now.
My first laugh of the day. Thank you. (I’d keep laughing, except it’s really sad.)
Remember, the civilians droned are largely Scary Brown Moslems. You’d probably have to ask 100 people on the street to find one who cared. And the odds are that the person who cares is in favor of it.
Boxturtle (Begins to understand why God sent the Flood)
Hey there ysd :).
Not posting much, but checking in to see what’s goin’ on from time to time.
Signed.
Welcome back. :)
I think, as several have said, that simply by posting here we are on the list. Jane said yesterday that she thought the fbi were watching her house a few nights ago. Read her post and all the comments, especially hers @15. Link.
I signed too, but I have the same “high” (not) expectations of the WH response. I think these petitions are a waste of time.
Oh, my. I’ll go read…
Can’t say I’m surprised that those two brought government surveillance with them. I hope everyone was at their wittiest and most charming for the dinner conversation as it will surely be archived for posterity.
Would be nice if someone knowledgeable could make a list of all the Aaron Schwartz’ out there and petition our fearful leader to stop their persecutions.
What an exciting life Jane Hamsher leads.
I am glad I at least registered my rejection of Obama’s policies by voting Green.
Me too!
Doubtless, Carmen Ortiz deserves serious consequences. However, what are we to make of the roll which the Secret Service played in the harassment of Aaron Swartz?
http://www.emptywheel.net/2013/01/13/two-days-before-cambridge-cops-arrested-aaron-swartz-secret-service-took-over-the-investigation/
Doesn’t this revelation indicate that, as Emptywheel suggests, “…this was a nationally directed effort to take down Swartz?”
Where does the “buck” actually stop? How far up the “chain” do the links actually go?
DW
I just watched it. It’s really excellent. I can’t recommend it too highly. Thanks, OmAli.
I, too.
The national security state and its arms have grown to enormous and unnecessary proportions. The drones are creating more terrorists than they can possibly kill.
The entire approach is completely wrong. COMPLETELY
Ortiz and the slime who handled the Swarz case are a problem, but the real problem is Lanny Breuer and the immediate supervisor of Ortiz. They are the ones who set as a priority stomping out the people who want to move information into the public sector. They are the ones who reward the prosecutors for enforcing the laws to the maximum extent allowable.
And they are the ones who refuse to prosecute the real white collar criminals in our midst, the frauds in the banking sector.
The real problem is Obama, who with one word could revise DOJ priorities, punish excesses , and set a different tone. That this does not ever happen says all we need to know about who is the enemy and where the buck stops. Congress, and oversight committees, could as well stand up for the constitution, but that doesn’t happen either.
(I did not mean to specifically reply to DW, or maaccio just above, but no harm done)
Spot on, masaccio!
DW
Obama is where the buck stops
And where the f***k starts.
Yes, Marcy Wheeler had a good post about this.
That would be hard to do since he has just been reelected for a four yr term.
On edit, was going to correct you when sarcasm alert bell rang.
Occupy??? It grew like a lit match and just like a lit match it burned out quick. Face it, internet activists are a small group who only preach to the choir. The rest of those on the internet loose interest as soon as new cat playing a piano comes along.