Slashdot Mirror
Palin E-Mail Snoop Gets Year In Prison
netbuzz writes "David Kernell, whose prying into Sarah Palin's personal e-mail account caused an uproar two months before the 2008 presidential election, was today sentenced to a year and a day by a judge in Knoxville, Tenn. Kernell was convicted of misdemeanor computer fraud and felony obstruction of justice back in April. His attorney had argued for probation on the grounds that what Kernell did amounted to a prank that spun out of control."
I am pretty sure the actual sentence was 1 year 1 day in custody; to be served at a halfway house.
The local source - http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=13490313&Call=Email&Format=HTML
Do you see "hacking" in there? He was convicted of computer fraud as he accessed an account that was not his. He also got busted for obstruction of justice by panicking and wiping his drive, which is what landed him the real jail time.
Or, as the article says, he was sentenced:
by a judge who recommended that the time be served in a Knoxville, Tenn. halfway house
A little bit different!!
Rich banker gets to escape felony hit and run charges, because the judge felt "a felony charge would hurt his ability to make shit tons of money"
http://dailybail.com/home/outrage-morgan-stanley-banker-escapes-felony-charges-for-hit.html
Actually, no, it's a more lenient sentence -- a year and a day means you're eligible for sentence reductions based on good behavior and the like; any less and you aren't.
I don't think you know Slashdot very well at all. It is primarily a Libertarian site. I don't think they would react any different if someone hacked in to some Democrat governor's site.
Yeah, violating someone's privacy is wrong. But does it deserve a year in prison? That is what people are objecting to...the overly harsh penalties assigned to crimes regarding computers. The less famous/rich you are the higher the chance you will serve a more severe sentence.
And seriously, try not to be such a partisan douche in the future.
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HP Pretexting Charges Dismissed: "Charges against defendants in the Hewlett-Packard pretexting case have been dismissed."
He wasn't using a VPN, he was just using a web based proxy.
"real-life" equivalent (snail-mail forwarding):
http://answers.uslegal.com/civil-rights/privacy/14722/
A person submitting a false change of address form may be imprisoned for up to five years, or more in certain instances, plus subjected to a fine up to $250,000. The charges may be obstruction or mail, theft or mail, and/or making a false statement.
I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
Probably to make sure it got counted as a felony.
Yep.
It also guarantees that his life is now crap.
He will not vote ever again.
He will not be able to own a gun.
His ability to travel can easily be restricted.
His ability to get a future job is greatly impaired.
Note he only got a misdemeanor, a slap on the wrist, for the actual computer fraud.
The government does not take obstruction of justice lightly and tends to give stiff sentences for it.
Aside from that, yes, an attack on an account for political gain to influence an election would reasonably bring a more severe punishment than simply doing it to see if you can. This wasn't just some kid. His dad is a powerful Democratic state legislator and was then a member of Obama's Tennessee campaign. I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't doing dad's bidding, and is taking the fall to avoid ruining dad's career. Expect to see the payoff after this clears up, likely a well-paid position in a Democratic campaign in 2012.
Personally, I think he deserves extra time just for being stupid by using a single proxy that had a policy of turning over evidence of any illegal activity to the police. :)
Is it somehow more illegal to trespass someone's house if they have 5 locks on their door vs only one? Why should it be more or less illegal to do something based on how difficult it is?
It's not that it is more or less illegal, but rather a higher difficulty sure reflects intent better. Intent, when proven, can have quite an impact on judgements in a legal case.
I haven't followed O'Keefe closely at all -- what did he do that warrants a felony?
Gaining access to the communications infrastructure of a Federal building under false pretenses?
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
The not-a-real-hack revealed that Palin had been using her private Yahoo email account to conduct government business in order to hide from FOIA requests and such accountability.
I don't remember seeing that. I remember that is what people were looking for, but nothing was found as I recall. Seeing as how the messages were posted online, can you direct me to the emails where she was doing gov't business on her Yahoo account to hide from FOIA requests?
Thanx.
There is no "I disagree" mod for a reason. Flamebait, Troll, and Overrated are not substitutes.
Something tells me if you offered the police evidence of a serial murderer, they would probably give you immunity to the breaking and entering part. It is up tho the discretion of the DA whether or not to prosecute crimes. Just becasue you commit a crime does not automatically mean you will be charged.
"But this one goes to 11!"
I wouldn't have minded seeing O'Keefe do some prison time. He's a tool, but I don't see how this is a liberal/conservative issue. There were differences:
O'Keefe didn't actually bug the telephone. All they could actually pin on him was entering a federal building under false pretenses with the INTENT of doing more. It's pretty well established legally that intent is not punished the same as committing the crime. Admitting to the intention to tamper with the phones was probably a part of his plea deal. Otherwise that part of the charge would have been a bit circumstantial.
Kernell successfully hacked the account and released the email contents to the public. He compounded his problems by trying to hide evidence. No intent, all action.
Then as far as the sentences go, O'Keefe was sentenced to three years of probation, a fine, and a hundred hours of community service. Kernell has one year in a halfway house, not butt rape prison.
Why are you letting these clowns ruin our country?
http://gawker.com/5051193/sarah-palins-personal-emails
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/09/AR2008090903044.html
http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/32838
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/erik-ose/sarah-palins-yahoo-e-mail_b_127177.html
http://www.google.com/search?client=opera&rls=en&q=sarah+palin+emails+government+business&sourceid=opera&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8
"Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
Do you know the difference between government business and politics? Do you know that government officials are barred from using government services for political activities? So a republican politician writing to another republican politician about a republican activity, such as "veep talking points" not only isn't government business, but they cannot use their official computers/email/networks/telephones for that kind of email.
And I looked through the screen shots in the gawker link and do not see anything that is government business in there, no email's to the governator or anything else.
You should probably get someone to explain to you the difference between the responsibilities of the governor of alaska, the responsibilities of a vice presidential candidate, and the responsibilities of a family member. Also have them help you understand which are government activities, which are political activities and which are private activities. Then have them give you a quick run down on the idea of appropriate use of public equipment and money.
No, it's so to be sure that the guy qualifies for good behavior time. If someone is sentenced to a year and they are a model prisoner they will serve a year. If they are sentenced for a year and a day and are a model prisoner they will serve about ten months. In other words it's about not fucking him.