You said it not me. I readily admit there is more than enough blame to go around. From the controllers to the flight crew etc et al. But I personally dont see the flight crew as victims.

As for reduced rest....just what was there RON time? According to the NTSB report they had MORE than the mandated FAA or company rest period. I read the 28 points from the NTSB and only a handful or so speak to the crew. But the fact is that the crew was in the aircraft...not the controller...not the dispatcher...nor some crew scheduler. Was this an avoidable accident,,,,absolutly, does the crew bear 100% of the blame...not in any shape or form... any number of things ( several by the crew ) could have happened to possibly avoid this tragedy. And as far as effective authority of the PIC you can spin it anyway you like but thats the person responsible for the Passengers and crew and aircraft. And yes there is a LAW as you put it that espouses that but isnt that the intent when you take the left seat to be the PILOT IN COMMAND. Very few accidents are cut and dried and this one is no different but that doesnt change the basic facts of the case. While there are certainly other contributing elements as laid out in the NTSB report in the end it was the failure of the flight crew to realize they were on the wrong runway for departure.