[conspire] Post Mortum legal explosion

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Ron Guerin (ron at vnetworx.net):

> 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).

No, he was facing between four months (if he pleaded) and one to 1.5
years (if he went to court and lost).  Please see Kerr's second piece.

There is also a logic problem in what you said.

You might reasonably assert that Swartz was unclear on which specific
statutes he would be chargeable under, but it is not credible to assert
that he thought he was not transgressing the law in a serious way.
Again, Kerr details reasons.