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Constitutional Law Keyed to Choper
Packingham v. North Carolina
Citation:
137 S. Ct. 1730 (2017)Facts
In 2002, Lester Packingham, then a 21-year-old college student, pleaded guilty to taking indecent liberties with a 13-year-old girl, requiring him to register as a sex offender. In 2008, North Carolina enacted a statute making it a felony for registered sex offenders to access commercial social networking websites where minors can create accounts. In 2010, after having a traffic ticket dismissed, Packingham posted a celebratory message on Facebook thanking God. A police officer investigating registered sex offenders for potential violations of the statute discovered the post and confirmed Packingham’s identity. Packingham was indicted, convicted, and given a suspended prison sentence. At no point did the state allege that Packingham had contacted a minor or committed any illicit act on the internet. The statute’s broad definition of “commercial social networking website” potentially encompassed many websites beyond traditional social media platforms.
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