[aes256]

As much as my personal beliefs align with Aaron's and I am saddened by his passing, I think people are being more than a little disingenuous in their references to the charges he was facing.

I'd understand the indignation if we were talking about an actual sentence, but these were just charges. The maximum possible sentence for those charges might be dizzying, but realistically, Aaeron was never going to be handed the maximum.

[justin]

Giving the government the theoretical power to exact a tremendous punishment (30 years in jail + $1m fines) is terrible even if the full extent of that punishment is rarely or even never inflicted. Many others have pointed out that it can be used to get defendants to accept a plea bargain to reduce risk even when they don't believe themselves guilty, and increase the effect of systematic disenfranchisement of a class of minorities when used with selective enforcement.

[aswanson]

I experienced "just charges" a few months ago after just getting steady employment a week prior. A cop in a suburban community was bored to shit and decided to run tags on the borrowed car which I was driving which wasnt registered with the state ($38 fee) which he proceed to tow about half a mile (cost $176) and charge me a days worth of work to appear in court to pay $100 in court costs to have the charges dismissed. Totally innocent. Charges are not free.

[gw]

Cops will often pursue petty things in hopes of discovering something more serious to charge you with. By impounding your car, they are clear to search it without your consent.

This happened to me a few years ago in Maryland. As a new resident, I didn't realize I needed to fill out a form called FR-19. My registration was flagged, and an Anne Arundel cop pulled me over one evening.

As luck would have it, my insurance paperwork was a few months out of date. Strike two. I was given several charges adding up to a year in jail, my car was towed, and I walked home.

After buying new license plates to replace the ones he took, I picked my car up from the lot ($250+). Everything inside was strewn haphazardly; even the ash trays were turned up. You know what they were looking for.

The good news? A few months later, the court dropped all charges when they realized I had insurance the whole time. No harm done!

[aswanson]

Right. The whole registration revocation was in their system with the car I was driving was because of an insurance lapse on the owner's part that was already taken care of, but either hadn't registered in their bullshit system yet or had and he just saw fit to fuck with me. Either way, too much power is entrusted to these people; from the federal to municipal, gov't is rife with grade A stupidity and abusiveness.

[wglb]

What was the prosecutor's last offer two days before he died?