US courts are an Orwellian travesty of justice. Most cases never go to trial but result in convictions through plea bargains, and upwards of 25% of convicts have plead guilty to protect others, or for some other reason unrelated to the charges. It is horribly personal for Ross Ulbricht, but should be terrifying for us all.

Almost 2% of Americans are held in some form of involuntary servitude, many of them innocent of even breaking the law for which they were charged.

Cases like Ross' are even more egregious, as he was an iconic case, which the government won at any cost, despite the rampant evidence of corruption on the part of government agents, and agencies, and innuendo being used to convict and sentence him.

Sadly, in my lifetime America has gone from the land of the free, to the home of the slave.