The short answer is that your spouse has probably not violated any law by reading your e-mail, even if it is against your wishes. The law of technology is constantly changing, though, and you may want to think twice before snooping in your spouse's email.

The current law varies from state to state and you might be subject to criminal charges as the law catches up with technology. In Massachusetts, the First Circuit Court of Appeals in 2004 ruled that e-mail snooping was not a violation of the wire-tapping statute, and therefore not a crime under that law. If combined with concerning communications, e-mail snooping may be enough to trigger the criminal harassment statute in Massachusetts, though this would depend more likely on the nature of the other communications.

There is a Federal Law, the Electronic Communication Protection Act (ECPA), that prohibits interception of an e-mail while it is being transmitted. However, ECPA does not prohibit snooping in your e-mail inbox or outbox (i.e. before or after the e-mail has been transmitted).

Although snooping is not considered "hacking" under the ECPA, it may be under some state laws. In Michigan, prosecutors are attempting to apply their anti-hacking statute to a case of a Husband accessing his Wife's account to gain information about an affair. Although, many experts are quoted in a Today story as questioning this application of a law intended for a different purpose, the case raises interesting questions about two issues: What expecation of privacy does a Wife have on a shared computer (especially where her passwords were written down next to the computer) and how has the "snooping" damaged the Wife?

The damage to the Wife is certainly different than the damage experienced by a victim of identity theft or other more typical security "hacks", but this doesn't mean she is not damaged as well. It may be the case that applying the anti-hacking statute to a domestic case is not a good fit, but it is time for the legislature to catch up with today's technologies and impose either civil or criminal sanctions on e-mail snooping. The fact that such behavior is very often associated with controlling and/or violent domestic relationships should be enough to warrant prohibition of these activities.

If you are considering this type of snooping, even if you live in a jurisdiction where it is not against the law, you should consider the possible backlash. A Family Court Judge could consider this threatening behavior or otherwise hold it against you and the backlash could be much more damaging than any information discovered (even if it was admissible).

If you are concerned about your e-mail being wrongfully accessed, read our previous post about protecting your privacy.

You can view the Today Story video below:

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In our last post we provided information on the three types of orders that can help protect someone from an abusive spouse.

In two scenarios these orders can be permanent:

An abuse prevention order under M.G.L. c. 209A, often referred to as a 209A or restraining order, can be ordered for any fixed period of time up to one year. If an ex-parte hearing (without the defendant) was held for the initial hearing, then another hearing will be set up within ten (10) days to give the defendant an opportunity to tell their side of the story. After that opportunity, the order can be extended for up to one year. At the extension hearing if the plaintiff appears, the court may extend the order for any additional time reasonably necessary to protect the plaintiff. This extension can be permanent if the circumstances warrant that decision.

In addition, pursuant to a divorce case under M.G.L. c. 208, § 18, the Probate & Family Court can order a husband or wife to refrain from placing any restraint on the personal liberty of the other. In Champagne v. Champagne, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court determined that this statute allowed for permanent orders pursuant to the broad language stating "to make such further order as it deems necessary to protect either party or their children, to preserve the peace or to carry out the purposes of this section relative to restraint on personal liberty."

In Massachusetts, there are three statutes which can provide protection from an abusive spouse.

As a preliminary warning, none of these statutes, nor any other piece of paper, can physically prevent someone from harming you. These laws only provide for extra penalties and orders to discourage such behavior. If you are in fear of being harmed, and don't think that anything will stop your abuser then you should call a Domestic Violence Program for help.

Despite the limitations of these orders, they can still be useful tools in discouraging, preventing and punishing abusive behavior. The three statutes that can be used by victims of abuse to obtain protection from an abusive spouse are:

1. M.G.L. c. 208, § 34B - Order to Vacate Marital Home

Authority: The Probate & Family Court may order a husband or wife to vacate the marital home as part of a divorce or separate support proceeding.

Standard: The Court may order the offending spouse to vacate "if the court finds, after a hearing, that the health, safety or welfare of the moving party or any minor children residing with the parties would be endangered or substantially impaired by a failure to enter such an order."

Time limitations: The Order to Vacate shall not exceed ninety days, but can be extended for an additional "certain period of time, as the court deems necessary or appropriate."

2. M.G.L. c. 209A - Abuse Prevention

Authority: If the Trial Court (usually the District or Probate & Family Court) finds abuse they shall order a family or household member to:

(a) refrain from abusing the plaintiff;
(b) refrain from contacting the plaintiff; and
(c) vacate and stay away from the household, multiple family dwelling, and workplace.

The Court can also award the plaintiff temporary custody of any minor children and provide for visitation or child support.

Standard: A family or household member includes persons who:

(a) are or were married to one another;
(b) are or were residing together in the same household;
(c) are or were related by blood or marriage;
(d) have a child in common regardless of whether they have ever married or lived together; or
(e) are or have been in a substantive dating or engagement relationship.

“Abuse” is defined as "the occurrence of one or more of the following acts between family or household members:

(a) attempting to cause or causing physical harm;
(b) placing another in fear of imminent serious physical harm;
(c) causing another to engage involuntarily in sexual relations by force, threat or duress."

Time limitations: "Any relief granted by the court shall be for a fixed period of time not to exceed one year. Every order shall on its face state the time and date the order is to expire and shall include the date and time that the matter will again be heard. If the plaintiff appears at the court at the date and time the order is to expire, the court shall determine whether or not to extend the order for any additional time reasonably necessary to protect the plaintiff or to enter a permanent order."

3. M.G.L. c. 208, § 18 - Pendency of action for divorce; protection of personal liberty of spouse; restraint orders authorized

Authority: In a divorce action, the Probate & Family Court may prohibit the husband or wife from placing any restraint on the personal liberty of the other.

Standard: The Court may "make such further order as it deems necessary to protect either party or their children, to preserve the peace or to carry out the purposes of this section relative to restraint on personal liberty."

Time limitations: Under Champagne v. Champagne, 429 Mass. 324 (1999), these orders may be permanent, until further order of the Court.

We often warn our divorce clients that e-mails they send to their soon to be ex-spouses WILL show up in court. This is because it's almost impossible for two parties involved in an emotional dispute to write correspondence without overtones of disappointment, hurt or anger showing through in tone. This is even more likely in informal correspondence like e-mail.

The same is true for texts, especially now that texts are beginning to replace phone calls as the preferred method of quick short communications. According to this Huffington Post article, "Americans punched out more than 110 billion text messages in December 2008."

There are also significant domestic violence implications with text messaging. For instance, text messages are considered a communication and a violation of a restraining order, even if the victim sent a text message first a reply could result in an arrest and charge of violating a restraining order.

In addition, texts can be another way for abusers to track and control the lives of their victims. This article in the Patriot Ledger makes light of the Tiger Woods scandal and his immature texting, by noting how many wives and girlfriends check their significant other's phone history. This type of monitoring has a darker side when used by abusers.

No matter the context remember that what you put in writing, whether in e-mail, letter, facebook update, tweet, or even a text message leaves a record, and that record could come back to be used against you.

Thanks to DGVElaw for sending us the Patriot Ledger article.

The Kramden's and Litigation:

Ralph is a bus driver and Alice is currently unemployed but has worked as secretary at times when Ralph has been laid off. They have no children and Alice is primarily responsible for the management of the finances. Ralph often gets involved in ridiculous schemes that Alice claims have wasted their money. Ralph and Alice often insult each other, and Ralph makes constant threats such as "One of these days... Pow! Right in the kisser! One of these days Alice, straight to the moon!."

Recently Ralph was caught using his cell phone while driving and lost his job as a bus driver. When he came home and told Alice she berated him for his stupidity and Ralph became extremely angry. He got right in Alice's face and said, as he so often has, "One of these days... Pow! Right in the kisser! One of these days Alice, straight to the moon!." Alice replies "I'd like to see you try" and in response Ralph steps closer to her and pulls back his arm making a fist. Rather than wait to see if Ralph would actually hit her, Alice immediately backs away. Ralph does not follow her, but Alice is afraid and leaves the apartment.

She goes into a friend's apartment down the hall and calls the police. The police arrive and after interviewing both parties they indicated that they are not going to arrest Ralph. They ask Alice if she wants to request a 209A restraining order against Ralph and she states that she does. The police call the emergency Judge who approves an emergency restraining order. The police escort Ralph out of the apartment who has calmed down and accepts the police's request without any fight or argument.

Ralph, escorted by the police, collects some of his clothes and moves in with his friend, Ed Norton.

The following morning, Ralph and Alice both show up without lawyers at a hearing in the Suffolk District Court. Alice indicates during the hearing that she was afraid that Ralph was going to hit her during their argument, even though he has never carried out his threats in the past. Alice also states that she is not afraid of him right now and that she feels safe so long as he does not move back in. Alice also indicates that she intends to file for Divorce and that she doesn't want Ralph to move back in. Ralph agrees that he won't move back in and that he will continue to live with Ed. The Judge indicates to Alice that he can only extend the Restraining Order if she has a "reasonable fear of imminent serious physical harm," and given her testimony he cannot extend the restraining order.

Both Ralph and Alice consult with attorneys. Alice does not consult with a free Legal Aid service because she is back to working as a part-time secretary and she believes that she does not qualify for their services.

Alice borrows money from a friend to hire the attorney she consulted with because she doesn't feel safe negotiating directly with Ralph. Alice's attorney files a Complaint for Divorce.

Eventually right before the Pre-Trial, Ralph hires an attorney as well and the Divorce case is settled via Separation Agreement at the Pre-Trial. Both parties end up with some debt because of the cost of their legal fees.

COULD THIS HAVE GONE BETTER: Unfortunately, when domestic violence is an issue in a case, it is practically impossible to make use of mediation or collaborative law. Although mediation or collaborative law could have been cheaper, both options depend on a certain amount of trust between the parties and it is necessary for there not to be any threat of coercion.

Even in an instance where no physical violence has occurred, the threat of violence can be just as damaging and puts the victim at a disadvantage in any negotiation (notwithstanding the ongoing safety concerns).

As was suggested by one of our voters, DGVE law, Alice, might have been better served by having a trained domestic violence advocate work with her. Resources for domestic violence victims in Massachusetts are available here. Alice should have also discussed her case with potential legal aid services before assuming she didn't qualify. Resources related to finding legal counsel and/or legal services are available here.

Warning: this blog is going to show you information that can be used for good or evil.

If you are taking pictures with your phone (and even some cameras) and then posting those pictures on the internet, you are sharing more than just the picture. You are probably also sharing the date and time the picture was taken, the type of phone you have, what software you are using, and scariest of all - the exact location where the picture was taken.

Do I have your attention now?

Let me show you how it works:

This morning I took the above picture with my IPhone. I edited the picture on my computer and posted it here. Even after editing the picture, however, the picture retains certain embedded information.

To see this additional information you don't have to be a super smart computer hacker. On a PC, simply right-click the picture and select properties:



Now click on the details tab and immediately you will see some information that I might not have intended to share, such as the date and time the photo was taken:



When you scroll down and view the other details you see that you can also discovery I took this photo with an Apple iPhone 4. And although I might want you to know that I have an iPhone 4 so you can be super jealous, I probably don't want you to know the next thing you can discover if you keep scrolling down:



As shown in the image above, the details saved in the embedded data of this picture include the GPS Latitude and Longitude where it was taken. How did they get there? iPhones, as a "convenient feature," geo-tag all photos with this information. When you post the picture online, these details will often still remain with the image. This means that someone with minimal computer skills can figure out exactly where you were when you took the picture.

If I take the GPS Latitude and Longitude displayed in the above image and enter them into the FCC's online converter I get the following decimal results: Lat 42.288166, Long 71.333667. If I then enter these figures into an online address converter, I am told that this picture was taken at: 150 E Central St, Natick, MA 01760, USA.

Although not exact this approximation is too close for comfort (the picture was actually taken at my office located at 154 E. Central St., Natick, MA 01760).

By posting this information I realize that I am showing potential stalkers how to get information on their victims. However, I am hopeful that the majority of our readers will benefit from this information by protecting themselves rather than using it against others.

There are numerous ways in which this information could be used by attorneys or litigants in divorce cases to prove the whereabouts of somebody if those issues are in question. And the potential issues this raises in cases involving Domestic Violence are painfully obvious.

So here is the valuable TIP: Be careful what you share online, and always make sure you consider not just the information you intend to share but what information you might also be sharing inadvertently. Most phones will allow you to disable the geo-tagging feature. If you have an iPhone you can disable this feature as described in this eHow article.

Where you reside can affect whether or not the Court has jurisdiction over your case as discussed in a previous post: Where you get Divorced matters! - British woman loses rights to £1.2 Million Pension.

Assuming that Massachusetts has jurisdiction, you still need to disclose your address pursuant to Massachusetts Domestic Relations Procedure Rule 11 which states in pertinent part: "A party who is not represented by an attorney shall sign his pleadings and state his address, telephone number, and e-mail address if any." The Court needs to know your address so that the Judge can verify that jurisdiction is proper and in the event the court needs to send you Notice of any hearings or other matters. Likewise the opposing party needs your address in order to send you proper notice of pleadings pursuant to Massachusetts Domestic Relations Procedure Rule 5(b) and a P.O. Box is not considered sufficient.

It is possible to withhold your address from a party to a divorce case if you have reason to believe that disclosing your address will place you in danger. If this is the case, you must file any paperwork with the Court in person with a Motion to Impound Address and explain to the Judge why you need your address to be kept hidden from the other party. This is usually used in cases of domestic violence.

President Obama on September 30, 2009 proclaimed October, National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

As with any issue that endangers the health, safety or welfare of individuals, the first step towards ending that danger is to raise Awareness.

It seems that we are bombarded everyday with walkathons, and fund raisers, and pharmaceutical commercials that want to raise our Cancer Awareness, our Heart Disease Awareness, even our Awareness of Erectile Dysfunction. It becomes easy to forget that there are dangers in this world, and even in our own backyard, that don't stem from viruses or diseases. There are dangers, such as Domestic Violence that aren't caused by hunger or a germ, but instead by poor choices and a failure of support.

It's hard to know if there will ever be a cure for cancer, but we know the cure for Domestic Violence. A safe home and access to justice can provide victims of Domestic Violence with a voice to end their suffering.

If you or someone you know suffers from Sexual or Domestic Violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE, or if you live in Massachusetts check out these resources available on the Massachusetts State website, and seek help.