Wis. court ruling clears path for charges
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court has upheld a lower court ruling that cleared the way for identity theft charges against a man accused of driving his boss to suicide.
Christopher Baron admitted hacking into the work e-mail of his boss Mark Fisher and forwarding e-mails that suggested Fisher was having an extramarital affair.
Fisher was director of the city of Jefferson's Emergency Medical Service program. He committed suicide the day after the e-mails were sent.
A state appeals court ruled last year that Baron could be charged with identity theft and the Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed. A lower court had said Baron could not be charged with that because his action was protected under the First Amendment.
Jun 23, 2009 at 4:53 p.m.
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Baron was additionally charged with criminal defamation (dismissed), obstructing, computer crimes, and identity theft. It was only the last that was ruled unconstitutional by the lower court, but this is a far cry from protected speech. The Supreme Court ruling notes that because the speech was disseminated in an unlawful manner, it cannot be considered to have a legitimate purpose of criticizing a public official. The court said that the statute was properly narrowly constructed and did not constitute interference with First Amendment rights.
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I think the circuit court deliberately punted, essentially pushing a decision on constitutionality up to where judges with more knowledge and authority could consider it.
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Baron has not yet been tried on the other charges while this appeal proceeded. He could be sentenced to nine years in prison and $50,000 in fines if convicted on all counts.
Jun 23, 2009 at 3:49 p.m.
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He didn't kill anyone. If someone is so weak that they choose suicide, then that is squarely on their shoulders, no one else's. Certainly, I do not advocate hacking into anyone's email, however, I fail to see how that would qualify as identity theft.
Jun 23, 2009 at 3:06 p.m.
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Wisconsin "justice" prevails again! He all but killed the guy himself, & he'll be charged with identity theft!
Jun 23, 2009 at 1:30 p.m.
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What a loser.
Jun 23, 2009 at 12:34 p.m.
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Not if it is a computer provided by his employer.
Jun 23, 2009 at 12:17 p.m.
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What’s wrong with the lower court? Hacking into someone’s email is protected under the first amendment? Am I missing something?
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