[conspire] Post Mortum legal explosion

[Ron Guerin]

On 01/24/2013 02:16 PM, Paul Zander wrote:
> There is an old saying, "Don't do the crime, if you don't want to do the time."

I have often seen that said in related threads.  I presume when the old 
saying was fresh, it was based upon knowing what the crime was, and 
knowing what the proscribed punishment would be.

Those conditions no longer apply in contemporary society.  It seems to 
me that Swartz was facing something in the range of zero days to life in 
prison (50+ years is effectively life in prison).  Also that this is 
true for a large percentage of people breaking laws no reasonable person 
would have known existed.

The present day version of the old saying in a world with infinite 
'crimes' and infinite punishments would be "Don't do anything 
whatsoever, for it could cost you your life."

- Ron