Man might go to jail for reading his wife's e-mail

Leon Walker

Leon Walker, a computer technican, who lives in Detroit Michigan, faces going to court for allegedly hacking into his wife's e-mail.  In his defense he states, "she gave me her password before". During Walker's search through her e-mail, he finds out that Clara Walker, his wife, is having an affair with her second husband. Then, Leon, the third husband, shares the documents with wife's first husband in order to file an emergency claim to gain custody and protection of their kids with Clara. According to Leon the second husband has been arrested before due to domestic violence. When Clara Walker learned how the e-mails made their way into court, she complained to police.

I really don't believe he should go to jail because she gave him the password. He just wanted to find out if his wife was cheating on him and he did. I find nothing wrong with that. On the other hand, her email is private and should only be used by her, so getting into her email without her around is technically invading her privacy. 

What do you think about this situtation?


Should he go to jail or not and why?

This relates to AP Government because of the concept privacy. During our readings, we read about civil rights and how the state can't deprive a persons life, liberty, or property. In this case, Clara believes her liberty of privacy is being violated because Leon goes into her email. Even though Leon might go to jail, he can't be cruelly punished due to the 8th amendment.









http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/12/29/michigan.hacking.spouse/index.html

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/strange/news-article.aspx?storyid=183653&catid=82