The son of a Tennessee state lawmaker was indicted today for hacking Gov. Sarah Palin’s email account and then publishing the contents on the web.

The son of a Democratic Tennessee state lawmaker pleaded not guilty Wednesday to hacking the e-mail account of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

David Kernell, 20, of Knoxville, Tenn. entered the plea in federal court in Knoxville, the same day prosecutors unsealed an indictment charging him with intentionally accessing Palin’s e-mail account without authorization.

Kernell, an economics student at the University of Tennessee, was brought into court wearing handcuffs and shackles on his ankles.

He was released without posting bond, but the court forbade him from owning a computer and limited his Internet use to checking e-mail and doing class work.

This kid shouldn’t be allowed to use a computer period. I’m glad to see him prosecuted for what he did. Publishing the contents of Gov. Palin’s private email account was outrageous and totally unacceptable. Hopefully, this event will serve as a wake-up call to young David that he’s not a kid anymore and actions have consequences in life.

The one satisfying part of this story is that Kernell hacked Palin’s email with the intent of finding something politically damaging, and instead found absolutely nothing but normal emails and a few family photos.