Petition To Fire Aaron Swartz’ Prosecutor Reaches Goal
Though I'd like to see Oritz fired, and think she's deserving of it, the effort to get her fired is blinding us to a bigger problem and a proper solution.  The system was broken long before Oritz and Swartz, but it wasn't until it affected someone we like that we noticed.  But we're in a bubble, and the vast majority of Americans do not care who Aaron Swartz is, will not be affected by this tragedy like we were, and in general think that prosecutors need all the tools they can get to put "bad" people in prison.<p>The American people love tough-on-crime policies, and it's not possible to publicly shame a public official, or get her fired, for doing something that most of the public supports.  If we want to make change, we need to move the needle on the public's perception of crime.  That's a hard problem, and it's not as easy as signing a petition, but it's a problem we'll never be able to solve if we're blinded by trying to exact vengeance on a prosecutor.<p>Edited to add: if Oritz were likely to be fired, then I agree it would be a great starting point for a larger movement.  But my point is that changing public opinion of tough-on-crime policies is a <i>prerequisite</i> for getting Oritz fired.  A prosecutor is not going to be fired for engaging in normal conduct that is loved by the public, even if the outcome in this case was tragic.