[shmerl]

My point is, since he didn't refuse previous targeted requests from authorities, it's reasonable to assume that this case was somehow different. I.e. for example it was formally targeted, but in practice they demanded more than necessary, or it wasn't technically possible to do what they wanted without compromising others who weren't suspects, or something of that sort. So without knowing his reasoning it's not obvious that it's "his fault" and government didn't want to kill Lavabit originally or government didn't overstep its power to begin with.