Kevin Moore - Your Legal Rights Online

Published in 2015 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

29 East 21st Street, New York, NY 10010

Copyright 2015 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer.

Expert Reviewer: Lindsay A. Lewis, Esq.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Moore, Kevin M., author.

Your legal rights online/Kevin M. Moore.

p. cm.(Know your rights)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4777-8008-4 (library bound)ISBN 978-1-4777-8009-1 (pbk.)ISBN 978-1-4777-8010-7 (6-pack)

1. Computer networksLaw and legislationUnited StatesJuvenile literature. 2. InternetLaw and legislationUnited StatesJuvenile literature. 3. CyberspaceUnited StatesJuvenile literature. I. Title.

KF390.5.C6M66 2014

343.730999dc23

2014012809

Manufactured in the United States of America

INTRODUCTION

L ast year, a nineteen-year old student was arrested for crimes she committed using her computer. Her arrest

was a shock, and cost her and her parents, a great deal of money in attorneys fees and fines. She also lost the right to access the Internet for several years. It will hurt her life and career in ways she cannot yet see.

She knew what she did was wrong. However, she clearly did not understand that her actions were criminal and could severely affect her. In fact, she was lucky she did not face more serious charges.

What did she do? She applied to transfer from her community college to a four-year state college in New York State. She set up two online e-mail accounts in the personal names of two school officials, and used those names to send e-mails to the director of admissions at the four-year college. Both e-mails said there had been a mix-up with this students grades, and someone elses grades had been confused with hers. She attached to the e-mail a supposedly corrected college transcript that showed high, but phony grades.

The director of admissions was rightfully suspicious. He doesnt normally receive e-mails from college officials through private e-mail accounts. In addition, the corrected transcript was an obvious forgery. He immediately contacted the college registrar. College security officials conducted an investigation leading to the arrest and prosecution of this nineteen-year-old student.

Creating a false identity, or pretending to be someone else, online to create an e-mail account is a criminal offense.

Under New York State law, she could have faced multiple felony charges. In fact, she could have been sentenced to up to seven years in state prison, all for things she did on her computer at home. The charges could have included criminal impersonation or identify theft, forgery, falsifying business records, or a number of other possible charges.

In todays world, most young people grow up using computers and the Internet. It is a gateway to the world in a very real sense. That world is filled with an infinite number of wonderful, as well as destructive and dangerous, things. Using the Internet offers a path to the adult world where you have legal and moral obligations to others. Many of those obligations have the force of law behind them.

This resource provides a basic introduction to that real world of legal and moral obligations. It strives to help you understand and avoid the things that can get you into a lot of trouble and affect your life, badly. If you are already in trouble, it will provide advice on how to begin fixing what has been broken.

CHAPTER 1

THE LAW AND THE COURTS

L aw can be defined as a set of rules established by the government that we are obligated to obey. It is important to understand where the term the law comes from, and then understand the various types of law.

SOURCES OF LAW

It is not always easy to determine what the law is for a certain circumstance. The law as applied by the courts is found in many different places, and it is important to understand how those sources are related to each other.

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW

All laws in the United States are written under authority provided in the U.S. Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land. Laws that conflict with it may be ruled invalid or not legally recognized by the courts. The U.S. Constitution also provides many legal rights that are particularly important to criminal defendants. These include the following: due process rights under the fifth Amendment, extended to the states by way of the fourteenth Amendment; the right to a trial and effective representation, both of which are guaranteed in the sixth Amendment; and protections against illegal search and seizure under the fourth Amendment.

The U.S. Constitution was ratified and became effective in 1789. It has been amended twenty-seven times since then.

THE FUNDAMENTAL CONSTITUTION

The U.S. Constitution is the source of authority for all law in the United States. It provides the structure of government and grants authority to each branch of government. Each of the fifty states has enacted its own state constitution by the power granted by the U.S. Constitution. However, we are affected most often by statutory law, which are laws enacted by elected legislatures. Because the courts define the meaning of the law, it is necessary to also consider case law to find the meaning of the law.

STATUTORY LAW

Statutes are laws written by legislative bodies, like the U.S. Congress or state or local legislatures. Those bodies consist of elected representatives whose function is to enact laws. These statutes are what we most commonly refer to as the law. However, there are several other sources of law.

REGULATORY (ADMINISTRATIVE) LAW

Many statutes passed by legislatures give to government agencies the power to write regulations explaining how that law will be interpreted and enforced. The regulations have the power of law and can be enforced like a statute.

CASE LAW

Case law refers to written decisions of the courts in specific cases. Those decisions interpret the meaning of a statute, for example, and create a legal principle that is a precedent that lower courts are obligated to follow. In this way, the courts refine and clarify the meaning of a particular statute.

COMMON LAW

Common law was a set of legal principles created by court decisions in Great Britain before the United States existed. It was added to in this country during the colonial period and ninteenth century. Common law was law made by courts, building upon previous decisions, and by logical extension of principles. Unlike case law, common law existed as a source of its own; it was independent of any statutory law. Common law reflected the common persons understanding of law, justice, and logic. Many common law principles have been codified, which means they have been written into statutory law.