Palin's E-Mail Hacker Imprisoned Against Judge's Wishes

Em Adespoton writes "It was a computer security story that made headlines around the world, involving the private emails of a woman who could have become Vice President of the United States. And now, it's ended with a young man sent to a federal prison, hundreds of miles from his family home. David C Kernell, the hacker who broke into Sarah Palin's personal Yahoo email account, is reported to have been sent to jail despite a judge's recommendation that he should not be put behind bars."

Not "hacked"

[slimjim8094]

Not even cracked. Please stop talking about this guy like he has some computer wiizardry - he guessed at recovery questions. If I leave a riddle taped to my safe that gives the combo when solved, how angry can I be when somebody figures it out?

yeah...if you piss someone off..

[Anonymous Coward]

I speak from first hand experience that even if you're innocent, the system will do their best to get their hands on you in the worst possible way if they want to make you pay for something, possibly unrelated. For me it was a friend who did stupid stuff and I was trying to talk him out of it. The caught me on a technicality and got me in jail and then "accidentally" shipped me off to a medium security prison where I stood toe to toe with a guy who was facing 246 years(that is not a typo). All just to make me talk. I never did..fuck 'em.

Judicial recommendation =/= prison placement

[celticryan]

FTFA:

"The judge can give either incarceration or probation, but if it's incarceration the state gives power to the Bureau of Prisons to determine the nature of incarceration," said Professor Robert Weisberg, director of the criminal justice center at Stanford University in California.

If the Judge didn't want him to go to prison maybe he shouldn't have sentenced him to prison time...

In case anyone forgot

[royallthefourth]

The account he broke into was being used by Palin to conduct state business that she wanted to hide from being recorded in her official state email account.

Just a reminder.

Re:Too fucking bad..

[Americano]

He's going to a minimum or low security facility, which is typically almost completely unsecured, and has a focus on work and job programs. We are not talking about "hard time" here. He'll be serving alongside white-collar criminals, not exactly a dangerous bunch.

From the BOP web site [bop.gov]:

The Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Ashland is a low security institution housing male inmates with a satellite camp that houses minimum security inmates.

And since the article calls it low security, but references the prison camp, he might be housed at either the low or min- security facility. Here's a description of the type of facility he's going to [bop.gov]:

Minimum Security: Minimum security institutions, also known as Federal Prison Camps (FPCs), have dormitory housing, a relatively low staff-to-inmate ratio, and limited or no perimeter fencing. These institutions are work- and program-oriented; and many are located adjacent to larger institutions or on military bases, where inmates help serve the labor needs of the larger institution or base.

Low Security: Low security Federal Correctional Institutions (FCIs) have double-fenced perimeters, mostly dormitory or cubicle housing, and strong work and program components. The staff-to-inmate ratio in these institutions is higher than in minimum security facilities.

Re:Why is Palin using a Yahoo account?

[guruevi]

Yes, there were job-related e-mails in there that according to the law have to go into a government repository and for some reason she didn't want those messages to go on record. She was not punished for this.

Likewise she will not get punished for inciting violence and shootings, for being just plain dumb or for the air time she squandered with her show.

Re:Punishment - Crime

[Anonymous Coward]

Sure he should be held accountable, but sending the kid to an institution where he is more likely to be released into a world of criminality with contacts that may like to exploit his rudimentary skills is probably not serving the best interests of his community.

Posting anonymously, for obvious reasons. According to the BOP's inmate locator, David Kernell is at FCI Ashland, which has an adjoining camp (FPC Ashland). He's almost assuredly at the camp since he's a non-violent criminal with less than a year until his release. I don't believe you can be at a camp if you have more than 5 years until your release.

I spent a few months at a camp and it wasn't too bad, for being prison. Everybody was just trying to do their time and get home. No gang fights. I never once had people asking me how to pull off some new crime. We played a lot of cards, and I read a lot of books, and played a lot of piano and guitar. It was a learning experience, seeing that we were all just a bunch of normal people who made some bad choices and who wanted to get home.

Re:Too fucking bad..

[Restil]

Sure you don't get a say, but I find it a little surprising that the judge's recommendation was ignored.

It wasn't ignored. However, it's just a recommendation, not a mandate. If the judge didn't want him in prison, he should have probated the sentence.

-Restil

Re:Too fucking bad..

[Culture20]

The system we have is descended from the mode of Christian thought that when a sin(crime) is committed, penance.is needed in order to make the person right with God.

A more Christian thought regarding penance is "Go, and sin no more." the roman catholic version of penance is not Christian in origin.

Grrr, growf, we're gonna get him!!!

[bradley13]

Folks, take a look at the charges he was convicted of. Then think about this sentence.

Mr. Kernell was convicted of two charges. For breaking into Sarah Palin's email account, he was convicted of a misdemeanor for unlawful computer access. But a misdemeanor isn't enough payback for embarrassing one of the political elite. So he was also charged with a felony account of obstruction of justice. The FBI says that he erased data off of his computer [knoxnews.com]. Specifically, he deleted his copies of Palin's emails, and then defragged his disk. He also cleared his browser history.

Well, duh. The kid did something stupid. When he saw what an uproar he had created, he tried to make it all go away. Wow, that really is grounds for a federal felony charge.

This isn't justice folks. This is payback for embarrassing one of our betters.

Re:In case anyone forgot

[Anonymous Coward]

absent any proof whatsoever

Um, leaked email inbox contents from a personal, non-governmental mail address where she was illegally conducting governmental business? You know, the governmental business that she's legally required to conduct exclusively through the government provided/sanctioned/monitored email account? That she was side-stepping? Illegally? Which she then confirmed as actually being her mail, thus proving that it was her illegal actions being documented?

Oh right. She's a rich politician. If she'd just been some schlub, she'd already be in jail for it. Being caught red handed and publicly admitting that yes, that was you, isn't proof when you're a rich politician. Society would crumble in it's entirety if the laws actually applied to the people who make them.

Re:In case anyone forgot

[kevinNCSU]

This isn't informative it's just plain WRONG. Please, post an email that shows the conduction of official state business rather than private personal communication. And not just the names on the emails, but the actual content as coworkers are sometimes friends that have personal discussions too. As far as I remember all the emails shown were of a personal nature but the idea that she was using it for official correspondence pre-dated the leak so people just up and decided that the leak confirmed what they already beleived despite every major news outlet and the actual leaked emails contradicting them.

Re:In case anyone forgot

[Noren]

You believe a falsehood. Evidence unlawfully obtained by a private person is admissible, and Kernell wasn't a government employee. The Fourth Amendment protects against actions by government officials, not other private individuals. See BURDEAU v. MCDOWELL [findlaw.com] where a thief stole private papers which were nevertheless later used to prosecute the owner of the papers.