Nancy Gertner: Ortiz Should Have Never Pursued The Swartz Case

06:19

January 16, 2013

Computer prodigy and cyber activist Aaron Swartz was buried yesterday near Chicago. The 26-year-old former Harvard fellow committed suicide on Friday.

Swartz was facing criminal charges and a federal trial for downloading some four million documents from a fee-charging database of academic journals at MIT. He was charged with multiple felonies and was facing up to 35 years in prison and more than a million dollars in fines.

After Swartz's death, Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz dropped the charges against Swartz.

But retired federal Judge Nancy Gertner says the matter should have never been prosecuted in the first place.

Guest:

David Boeri, WBUR senior reporter

More:

WBUR: Retired Federal Judge Joins Criticism Over Handling Of Swartz Case
Associated Press: Feds Dismiss Charges Against Swartz, Cite Suicide

This segment aired on January 16, 2013.