The Atlantic magazine this month tells the tragic story of the US government’s persecution (in lieu of prosecution) of Steven Hatfill. Everyone should read it.

Stories like this make me so sad to see what my country has come to in my lifetime. It’s just heartbreaking.

I take away three key lessons:

1. Always exercise your Fifth Amendment right to remain silent.
2. Anyone who justifies curbing civil liberties with an argument akin to “if you’re not doing anything wrong, then you’ve got nothing to worry about” needs to read this story, plus the stories of Richard Jewell, the Duke University lacrosse team, and the hundreds of people exonerated by the Innocence Project just before their government was about to murder them.
3. With very few exceptions, everything you see on television “news” programs is first designed to entertain and sensationalize in the name of profit. The goal of truthfully informing the viewership is a distant second on the priority list.