[MtotheThird]

I wouldn't be so sure of that. Try reading the comments on any Boston globe article about this affair. Ortiz has strong support from law-and-order voters and many people in Massachusetts outside of tech; in addition to Swartz, she's been very aggressive in her prosecution of corruption and misconduct in the state government. She has a compelling back story and (at least before this) was blessed by Deval Patrick.

I think she could definitely replace Martha Coakley as state Attorney General, at minimum (Coakley also did many odious things as a prosecutor and has never, to my knowledge, paid a political price for it). And a decade from now, long after Aaron has disappeared from the press cycle, she'll make a run for Senate or Governor and his prosecution will likely be nothing more than a subsection of her Wikipedia bio. These are the sad realities of politics in Massachusetts.

[crag]

"These are the sad realities of politics in Massachusetts."

This is the sad reality of America. But the trouble is us (the people). The average American has the attention span of a gnat.

[vicks711]

"This is the sad reality of America" This is the sad reality of a democratic system. People have short memories.

[TWAndrews]

That's certainly possible, but given that Massachusetts has a pretty deep bench of ambitious democrats, it's hard not to see how this is anything but a handicap.

There's something to the law-and-order point, but that would be more true in a general election, which I don't see her reaching.

[theevocater]

Alternatively, not all voters are one issue voters. If she has done amazing things in the state and misguidedly pressed hard on Aaron, perhaps she should be judged by her whole record.

Given, I don't know much about it so I could be completely off base, but there is more to Ortiz's career than one case that was extremely misguided and ended horrifically.