1. Summarize the U.S. government's case against Ross Ulbricht.
2. Summarize the reasons Judge Forrest sentenced Ross Ulbricht to life in prison without parole the appropriate punishment for Ross Ulbricht. Do you agree? Defend your answer. . a. Do you believe this sentence was fair? Or too harsh?
3. Was Ulbricht "a (perhaps misguided) hero and former Boy Scout acting on his libertarian convictions"? Or, "Was he a calculating drug lord getting rich off of others' drug addictions and ruin"? "Was the Silk Road a safer way for drug transactions to happen or a platform for dangerous, untraceable criminal activity on Tor [The Onion Router]"?
4. Would Ross Ulbricht's letter move you to show some leniency? Move you to "throw the book at him"? Have no effect on your decision? Defend your answer.
5. In his fascinating interview with Teri Gross on "Fresh Air," Jamie Bartlett, author of The Dark Net, observed: