There most certainly IS a difference between going after "regular" people verses going after "important" people _in their capacity as important_. Murder of someone because you don't like what they are doing is a crime against the person. Murder of a judge or a prosecutor, or even a witness or a juror is a crime against peaceable society.
So I do expect his actions to be taken more seriously.
OTOH, a fifteen year old hacks the head of the CIA? "I'm not even mad. That's amazing." Seriously, the intoxication of the feat drew him into boasting (and thence, getting caught). The creeping was just more of it. I'm certainly on the side of light punishment.
But what about the fact that the head of the CIA committed a national security felony by putting those documents in a place that they could be obtained? If I were the defense attorney, I would argue that since the man who put these documents in an unsecured location did not even lose his job, that surely the documents could not actually have been important.
Oh, wait. Brennan's boss was Hilary Clinton. Never mind, then. It's all good.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
