Palin Hacking Charge Flawed, Lawyers Say

David Kernell is facing five years in prison for allegedly hacking into Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's Yahoo e-mail account, but lawyers watching the case say that the felony charge against him is a bit of a stretch.

That's because under the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act the crime that Kernell is accused of -- illegally accessing a protected computer -- is considered a misdemeanor offense, unless it was committed in order to pull off another crime. Then it becomes a felony.