{"id":2041,"date":"2013-10-22T21:44:51","date_gmt":"2013-10-22T21:44:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ncjolt.org\/?p=2041"},"modified":"2020-06-04T20:53:59","modified_gmt":"2020-06-04T20:53:59","slug":"yes-no-maybe-north-carolina-still-isnt-sure-whether-to-ban-sex-offenders-from-social-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/blogs\/yes-no-maybe-north-carolina-still-isnt-sure-whether-to-ban-sex-offenders-from-social-media\/","title":{"rendered":"Yes, No, Maybe: North Carolina Still Isn\u2019t Sure Whether to Ban Sex Offenders from Social Media"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tuesday, October 22, 2013, by Amanda Colley
\nTo prey on a community\u2019s fears, almost nothing garners more attention than the threat of sexual predators who prey on children\u2014especially predators that lurk anonymously behind computer screens.\u00a0 Back in the earlier days of the Internet, when MySpace was still a viable social media contender, NBC presented a television program To Catch a Predator<\/i><\/a> from 2004-07.\u00a0 The media started to expose and publicize that fear.\u00a0 The result?\u00a0 Broad statutory restrictions on convicted sex offenders\u2019 access to social media.
\nOne of the earliest examples was North Carolina\u2019s 2008 Protect Children from Sexual Predator\u2019s Act<\/a>.\u00a0 This law prohibits registered sex offenders from accessing commercial social network web sites that also allows minor children to become members or maintain personal web pages.\u00a0 Violators are charged with a Class I felony.\u00a0 People convicted of felonies have long endured limitation of constitutional rights, such as the right to bear arms<\/a> and vote<\/a>.\u00a0 However, as the pendulum swings, within the last few years, there have been several laws banning or restricting sex offenders\u2019 access to social media that have been thrown out by courts due to successful constitutional challenges.\u00a0 Examples include Indiana<\/a>, Nebraska<\/a>, Louisiana<\/a>, and California<\/a>.\u00a0 It was just a matter of time before North Carolina\u2019s law came under the same scrutiny<\/a>.
\nThe North Carolina Court of Appeals handed down an opinion agreeing with petitioner Lester Gerard Packingham, Jr. of Durham<\/a>, NC.\u00a0 Packingham\u2019s argument<\/a> was that the law restricted his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.\u00a0 Packingham was originally convicted of taking indecent liberties with a child in 2002, and later was convicted of violating the Sexual Predator Social Media Law in 2012.\u00a0 Durham law enforcement recognized Packingham\u2019s picture under the user name \u201cJ.R. Gerard\u201d on Facebook.\u00a0 The NC Court of Appeals opinion<\/a> was handed down on August 21, 2013, and was unanimous in its finding that the Sex Offender Social Media law was unconstitutional in that it was \u201ctoo broad\u201d and so \u201cvague\u201d that it failed to target the \u201cevil\u201d it was designed to rectify.<\/p>\n

Whether or not the law on sex offenders\u2019 access to social media is deemed to be unconstitutional, North Carolina needs to make a final decision.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The NC Attorney General, Roy Cooper<\/a>, who lobbied for the law to be passed in 2008, requested, and was granted, a stay<\/a> by the NC Supreme Court.\u00a0 This court order, which the NC Supreme Court issued only a few days after the NC Court of Appeals decision, allowed the law to remain valid until the NC Attorney General could make his formal petition.\u00a0 The state has filed this petition<\/a> on September 24; in reply, Packingham\u2019s counsel filed a response<\/a> on October 3.
\nAfter the succession of other, similar state laws toppling on appeal, North Carolina\u2019s reluctance to follow suit is somewhat surprising. NC Attorney General Cooper acknowledged<\/a> that the law might need to be rewritten by the legislature to have a narrower scope.
\nWhile waiting for the Supreme Court\u2019s response, the law remains on uncertain ground.\u00a0 On one hand, if the law is unconstitutional, it needs to be confirmed by the court, as it has in various other states.\u00a0 On the other hand, if the law complies with the constitution and does not impermissibly infringe on personal constitutional rights, the courts need to communicate that as well.\u00a0 Whether or not the law on sex offenders\u2019 access to social media is deemed to be unconstitutional, North Carolina needs to make a final decision.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tuesday, October 22, 2013, by Amanda Colley To prey on a community\u2019s fears, almost nothing garners more attention than the threat of sexual predators who prey on children\u2014especially predators that lurk anonymously behind computer screens.\u00a0 Back in the earlier days of the Internet, when MySpace was still a viable social media contender, NBC presented a …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[51],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2041"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2041"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2041\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7561,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2041\/revisions\/7561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}