The tragic recent suicide of Reddit co-founder Aaron Swartz in the face of an aggressive federal computer-hacking prosecution has ignited a healthy discussion about overcriminalization of the law and prosecutorial overreach in its enforcement.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston has found itself responding to critics of the Swartz prosecution from the media and Capitol Hill, while a short but worthwhile article with a catchy title "Ham Sandwich Nation: Due Process When Everything Is a Crime" by University of Tennessee Law Professor Glenn Reynolds, has brought this simmering issue of great import into the mainstream. Meanwhile, diverse organizations such as the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society have been studying the problem for years.
