A former University of Tennessee student who hacked into Sarah Palin's e-mail account during the 2008 presidential campaign was sentenced Friday to a year and a day in custody, with the judge recommending a halfway house instead of prison.
The sentence by U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Phillips fell short of the 18 months in prison sought by federal prosecutors to send a message to would-be hackers during political campaigns, but went beyond the probation recommended by defense attorneys for 22-year-old David Kernell. The additional day of his sentence will make him eligible for a reduced sentence for good behavior.
Kernell seems to have learned his lesson, and I for one believe his sentence of a year, and a day, even in a halfway house, is excessive, and would never have been handed down if this were about anybody BUT Sarah Palin. I certainly hope that his sentence gets reduced substantially.
"I am not going to make any kind of excuses," he said. "I'd like to apologize to the Palin family."
"For the rest of my life I am going to be ashamed, feel guilty for what I have done," he said.
THAT admission, plus the impact that this trial has had on his life, should be more than enough to assure everybody that David Kerenell will not engaging in these types of activities again. The year of incarceration just seems punitive to me.
As I have already pointed out during the trial, Kernell did not "hack" in to Sarah Palin's e-mail account. He guessed her password which almost anybody with even the slightest bit of knowledge about Sister Sarah could have done.
Although the case has been dubbed the "Palin hacker case" in the media, this was no sophisticated computer hack, testimony showed.
After reading reports that Palin used her personal account for official business in her role as Alaska governor, Kernell, the son of longtime Memphis Democratic state legislator Mike Kernell, decided to go surfing the Web in search of the answer to her password security question.
After successfully guessing the password, he changed it and posted it online along with screenshots of some Palin family photographs and a few e-mails.
In my opinion where Kernell went really wrong was in putting all of her personal information out onto the web. And he deserves to get a slap on the hand for doing so. However despite what Sarah and Bristol testified too, there was NO real harm done beyond the embarrassment that the whole world now knew that the Republican VP was an imbecile who used private e-mail accounts to conduct state business.
Which, by the way, seems like something voters SHOULD have known about this candidate. Perhaps instead of giving this young man a jail sentence, somebody should give him a medal for helping to reveal that Sarah Palin is a simpleton who put potentially sensitive information about the running of the State of Alaska on a personal Yahoo account that was vulnerable to attack by political foes.
Let's face it, if somebody who was NOT a dumb kid had gained access to this account they could have monitored information going back and forth between Sarah Palin and her staff, as well as other high ranking politicians, for months. Just imagine what THAT might have revealed about Sister Sarah!
You all are imagining that aren't you? Yeah me too.
Yes, too much for such a simple "crime." Besides, we all know Sarah and Bristol lied or stretched the truth to the breaking point during their testimony.
ReplyDeleteSarah Palin's new consumer ratings guide - "Sarah's Scores" will replace Zagat and others - REVEALING story at:
ReplyDeletehttp://spnheadlines.blogspot.com/2010/05/palin-pushes-new-ratings-guide-sarahs.html
Peace! :-)
The kid was VERY stupid given how intelligent he seems to be. If it had been me, even as a 20 something, I would have kept the information to myself, screen shot all of it, and then sold it to whoever wanted to eat Palin alive. Now that would be worth some jail time but to just put it all out there for nothing, stupidity in action.
ReplyDeleteWhat Kernell revealed was that Palin used a private account for government business, while she also had a blackberry for government communication. We often saw pictures of Sarah with two blackberries in hand. Once or twice, it's a mistake. There was no mistaking that she was hiding communication, and yet the ethics violation was dismissed.
ReplyDeleteThe other part about Sarah's Alaska communication is that Todd, acting as a quasi-shadow-governor was also getting cc'd on offical state business. Todd never was appointed or elected to any state office. First Dude is not a real political job. No ethics violation there, either.
There are some things in life that are just plain unfair. One is that an overweight klutz stays on Dancing with the Stars week after week, making more and more people believe that show is fixed. Todd getting cc'd plus private state communications and no ethics violations also look like a fix. Even Bristol and Sarah lying on the witness stand and the harsh sentence is one more reason to see that life is kind to the Palins and unjustly harsh for others.
Another website has links to testimony transcripts from this trial. This site reports significant discrepancies in some of the testimony.
ReplyDeleteFacts such as was there a landline phone at the Palin residence?
In an update a clip is posted from the 2009 Lauer interview-at Casa Dead Pond- where what appears to be a landline phone is on the kitchen counter.
Sarahmade a lot of noise to be sure Joe Miller was properly investigated and punished for tampering with- wrong situation. Joe Miller and his computer whackery must not have been anything worthy of comment from Sarah Palin- otherwise she would have said it.
Silence=Support. Especially when the half a governor was going to benefit from the Palinputsch at the Alaska Republican Party.
When are Pailin and her ilk going to prison for hacking the Constitution asunder?
ReplyDelete"...Sarah Palin is a simpleton who put potentially sensitive information about the running of the State of Alaska on a personal Yahoo account that was vulnerable to attack by political foes.
ReplyDeleteLet's face it, if somebody who was NOT a dumb kid had gained access to this account they could have monitored information going back and forth between Sarah Palin and her staff, as well as other high ranking politicians, for months."
That's the simple version. Speculation based on the possibility that this was triggered by sheer incompetence and a failure to plan (poor choice of password-when it was obvious there was an account yadayada).
That is not the only possibility
Think about the plausible deniability concept. Several different flavors.
Put info out on this easily hacked account that if your political opponents use it- can then be used to reveal they are hackers. Put a lie out there so that it can be claimed they are hacking AND spreading lies.
Put information on the account that companies negotiating with the state can use to their benefit. Do this and if they access the information the company has it- and there is complete deniability that it was purposefully provided. This could be done by only one individual with account knowledge - or as part of a plan by more than one insider.
If Kernell had not changed the password - and posted his exploit- there would have been no way to know this access had occurred.
And 7:43- Just because Kernell did what he did does not mean someone else did not do what you suggest.
This is a miscarraige of justice.
ReplyDeleteSounds like an "activist" judge to me. What is his relationship with Sarah?
Sarah wanted kid to get electric chair.
ReplyDeleteTodd offered to stone him to death instead
In spite of everything we know, and everything you and we post, this is just one more example that Sarah Palin is doing just great.
ReplyDeleteShe is not so far accountable in any way for her huge baby hoax, nor for any of the other big-time unethical, criminal, or stupid things she has done. As time passes, the chances for her to get nailed for any of them decreases.
All to my immense disgust and sorrow -- for our country. --Amy1
Isn't lying under oath a punishable crime? The testimony and evidence prove Sarah and Bristal lied - wish there was someone with legal know how who could do something with this infomation - too bad it probably can't be used for appeal of the sentence.
ReplyDeleteWhy is it that Carolyn Hanson knows nothing about the Palins and their phones? Cell phones, land lines? Why is it Carolyn could do nothing to help poor Bristol when all alone in the wilderness?
ReplyDeleteShe did more than make sensitive government information vulnerable. She deliberately violated laws regarding government record retention.
ReplyDelete@ 8:08: credit to you for the perfect Tweet
ReplyDeleteJoe Miller & his computer whackery not worthy of comment from #Palin #p2 Comment @The Immoral Minority http://t.co/SUJqxPZ
The Palins contradict themselves with their lies.
ReplyDeleteThey told the judge Bristol was isolated without phone access.
They told TLC cameras they had no privacy because the annoying next-door neighbor was peeping over the fence.
They can't have it BOTH WAYS. Playing the victim because they're alone in the Alaska wilderness... playing the victim because neighbors are peeping at them... Poor, pitiful Palins... boo-hoo and bullsh*t.
The longtime CLOSE Family friends, the Morlocks could have had April run right over there to be with Brothel and help her out. April is a close enough BFF that Brothel asked her to come down to LA with Her. The Palins and the Morlocks... all know each other very well. It's a VERY close relationship.
ReplyDelete"For the rest of my life I am going to be ashamed, feel guilty for what I have done," he said.
ReplyDeleteThis 22 year old kid would have the grace and fortitude to examine his actions and consequences. Sarah or anyone involved with them? Not so much. Ever. They are incapable but also live in a world that allow them to escape consequences for bad behavior.
Or whatnot. Sucks.
OT: Bad news for SP -
ReplyDeleteEars Could Make Better Unique IDs Than Fingerprints
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/11/ears-biometric-identification/
Palin is such a vindictive freak. Some day all her skinny chickens will come home to roost and Sarah will rue the day. David's sentence bites but he could have gotten sentenced to 1 year only so I'm glad the judge included 1 day. Why? Because by including 1 day the 85% "rule" kicks in meaning he'll only do 85% of that crappy sentence. Otherwise he would have been doing the full year.
ReplyDeleteNot convinced Brisdull or Sarah were scared. Pissed off yeah, but not scared. It's not like they live 200 miles from people for Pete's sake. What a crock.
Is "SPN Headlines" just spamming by promoting his/her own website?
ReplyDelete"Please note that the article about Sarah Palin's new consumer ratings guide - "Sarah's Scores" will replace Zagat and others - REVEALING story at:
It's a cute presentation, but at least be up front in your note here by telling readers that it is a parody and not a true concern or "revealing story."
By the way, in many states, the "year plus a day" is a significant sentence. As a rule of thumb, anything under a year is served in the local jail while a sentence over a year is spent in the state prison.
ReplyDeleteObviously, in David Kernell's case, he's getting to serve it in a halfway house. So, I'm wondering what the significance of the sentence is. My guess is that it impacts his probation. He will probably have a more restrictive probation (and be sent back to jail more easily and for a longer time) due to the severity of the sentence than if he had been given something under a year.
the major significance of that one day added to the sentence = a felony conviction under federal law.
ReplyDelete"So, I'm wondering what the significance of the sentence is."
ReplyDeleteThe year plus a day puts him in the prison system where he'll be eligible for time off for good behavior and other reasons to earn time off. A sentence of more than a year may be the minimum sentence for a felony in TN. In the prison system, he might be high on the list of people who would be released because of over-crowding. It might make him eligible for parole after just a couple months.
"Yes, too much for such a simple "crime.""
ReplyDeleteObstruction of Justice is anything but simple. It's a very serious crime. Kernell made a really stupid mistake trying to cover up his activities.
thanks for the great article!
ReplyDelete11:52 AM
ReplyDeleteThe same must apply to the Palins and others.
"What is his relationship with Sarah?"
ReplyDeleteHe's a fat old white guy who's not getting any at home.
Remember that acronym they use to describe SP...........MILF. Heard an alterntive to the usual............Moron I'd Like to Forget. LOL
Palin and Miller should both have on their resume "Felons" in that they too are guilty of hacking into other people's computers.
ReplyDeleteRemember - Palin did this prior to her being elected Mayor and Miller as we have been advised by the release of the documentation while he was employed in Fairbanks.
They both should have been charged as criminals, found guilty and cooled their asses in jail.
and did anything happen to Palin for conducting state business on a non-government network? Of course not, justice is for peons and not for the ruling class.
ReplyDeletePalin and Miller should be in jail then for the computer crimes they committed but then that isn't what Sarah Palin's America is all about.
"For the rest of my life I am going to be ashamed, feel guilty for what I have done," he said.
ReplyDeleteI really wish he hadn't said that. It was like saying "Uncle" to a bully. It's something the Palins will really get off on to know they've gotten into this kid's head and have given him something to think about for the rest of his life. Bullies love that stuff. In fact, I bet Sarah will come back to read that statement again and again in her life and feel enormous satisfaction and power, ( maybe even a tingle in her nether regions)
I'm conflicted on this. Yes, he did prove that Sarah Palin used her private account for public business, but the way it was done was completely lawless. And at the end of the day, I'm not on board with the idea of breaking into someone's mail and publicly posting the findings in such a manner.
ReplyDeleteI think Palin is terrible for the country, and I don't want to see this kid in prison with murderers and thieves and rapists. But, this sentence seems fair if indeed he will be put in a halfway house instead of actual prison.
This kid got one year and a day? What did Palin's rotten kids receive for cutting school bus brake lines which could of killed kids and what did they get for breaking and entering and destroying private property? Fu-kn hill billies!
ReplyDelete