by Lucius Trae

Created on: December 30, 2010

In Michigan, Leon Walker is facing felony charges for hacking into his wife's email account. This story has given rise to a variety of perspectives on whether or not he should be found guilty. Walker suspected that his wife, Clara Walker, was having an affair and decided to investigate into the matter. She stored her passwords in books near the computer, making access to the account relatively easy.

What Leon Walker found was surprising. Not only was she having an affair, but it was with one of her two ex-husbands. Even worse yet, Walker knew that this man had previously beaten his wife in front of her young son. Naturally, he was worried by the fact that he believed his wife was taking their young daughter to the man's home. When he confronted his wife, he soon found himself dealing with felony charges for his actions - in addition to the already pending divorce proceedings. 

It's easy to sympathize with Leon Walker, but there are legitimate worries surrounding his actions. When police are investigating a crime, they need cause to receive a search warrant. As a private citizen, Leon Walker suspected his wife was engaging in an affair and putting his child at risk. Was it his place to investigate the matter? And if so, did he have legitimate reasons to act as he did? The fact that his suspicions were correct does not mean he had a good reason to be suspicious. An overly jealous man might accuse all his girlfriends of cheating. Eventually, he might be right, but it was his personality that caused such a result - not reason. Imagine police that use invasive methods on a "hunch.' Do we want an officer who like that potentially invading our homes, even if he was right the first time he tried such methods? 

Obviously, we aren't dealing with issues as significant as home invasion and major criminal investigations. However, there is still an expectation of privacy within a relationship. It's still against the law to open a spouse's mail without their consent. E-mail would likely be placed under that category. The prosecution has also stated that Leon Walker knew about divorce proceedings before the hacking incident. Did he have a worry about his daughter or was he trying to get dirt on his wife for his divorce case? 

What will happen to Leon Walker? The idea that he was investigating for divorce proceedings will likely to dismissed as speculation, presuming he has some plausible justification for thinking an affair existed. The easy access of the passwords

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