For downloading academic journal articles, Aaron Swartz faced criminal charges that (if he won) at best would have cost him $1 million in legal fees, and (if he lost) at worst could have cost him $4 million more in fines and up to 50 years in prison[1]. Even if he were guilty -- and it is not clear that he was[2] -- such absurdly harsh prosecution is not justice.
A bully whose victim is driven to suicide is not solely responsible for the victim's death, nor are prosecutors Ortiz and Heymann solely to blame for Aaron's suicide. But they do bear responsibility for their own prosecutorial abuse.
The public deserves an independent investigation into the prosecutorial excesses that contributed to Aaron's death.
1. http://bit.ly/S26HPW
2. http://bit.ly/13phsQa
More: http://bit.ly/W6rlfj