>Also the prospect of going to jail for hacking or whistleblowing crimes is pretty harrowing - look what happened to Aaron Swartz.

But he'd probably have got off with parole.

If you're going to downvote me for repeating the opinion of his own legal representation and several other legal experts commenting on the case, you could at least explain why.

(Although I did mess up parole vs probation)

> I'd bet a good portion of the HN reader base has had an uncomfortable police encounter.

Rich, white tech dudes? I doubt it. Even if they have, a bit of mouthing "sorry, Officer" probably solved the problem.

Heh... Anyone else getting tired of the backhanded racism against whites?

"Privileged" white male checking in here. I've been harassed by the cops at least 3 times. Two included spending the night in jail. One included a healthy threat of violence. I might not have it as bad as others, but I've had my run-ins buddy.

You do realize that anecdote doesn't make data, right? Because the data is clear: wealthy white males are far, far less likely to get harassed by the police as any other ethnicity/income/gender combo. So the parent's comment, while politically incorrect, is factually on point.

This is incorrect. The single major demographic trait most likely to lead to arrest, higher conviction rates and stricter sentencing for the same crime is to be male. Being black (or to a lesser extent, Latino) is also a huge factor, as is being young.

The demographic of elderly Asian women, for example, is not more likely to get harassed by police, face arrest if they are or to be sentenced harshly in the event of a conviction.

Last time I looked at the stats, 18-30 male is the demographic most often arrested. Black 18-30 male get arrested slightly more often than white 18-30 male (although not as much as you'd expect). If you looked at the numbers and nothing else, the truly "privileged" demographic is actually Asian females. And for the record, yes I'm in the 18-30 male demo and yes I've had a police run in which didn't end in "sorry officer".

Now conviction rates are another story...

Yeah, just saying, "sorry, Officer," obviously solved the problem for Aaron Swartz.

Yeah, one privileged guy had problems and everyone remembers it forever... Isn't really comparable to the thousands of underpribileged who's lives are just as tragically ruined...

Nobody is discounting the problem of police brutality for the thousands of underprivileged. Acknowledging that problem should not mean that we should simply ignore other forms judicial overreach, such as the abuse of the CFAA in Aaron Swartz's case. Both are major problems that need to be discussed.

Keep in mind that another major reason people remember Aaron Swartz because of everything he has contributed to the world of technology [1].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz#Life_and_works

I agree that is why he should be remembered. I disagree that is why he is. Of course impossible to seperate the reasons now. But certainly his notoriety is far more widespread after his death, than before.

Yup, cops don't ever abuse their power unless it's against a minority. Cops aren't power hungry or brutal, they just have an unending unexplainable hatred for minorities.

And even if they do abuse or brutalize a white person who cares right? That white person probably had such a good life before then that they deserved it.

It's one thing to focus the conversation on race when we're talking about race, and fight off intentional malicious distractions like "all lives matter". It's entirely another to pretend no issues exist unless they only affect minorities.

Thanks for putting those words in my mouth...

Police have terrifying power, and fail to de-escalate situations much of the time. However, as a middle-aged and middle-class white dude, I have been able to avoid violence and jail on several occasions.

Read Ian Murdock's last tweets.

Whoa...