Packingham v North Carolina BY Marissa Giauque Callie

Packingham v. North Carolina

BY: Marissa Giauque, Callie Isaacs & Dwyer neal

Background Information ▣ Location of the trial: North Carolina Supreme Court Building ▣ Petitioner: Lester Gerard Packingham ▣ Respondent: North Carolina

Facts of the Case

Facts ▣ Lester Packingham was convicted of taking “indecent liberties” with a minor in 2002 ▣ ▣ Sentencing: □ 10 -12 month imprisonment □ Followed by 24 -month supervised release □ Told to remain away from minor In 2010 the Durham Police Department began an investigation of profiles on social media platforms ▣ In 2010, Packingham was arrested after authorities came across a Facebook post on his profile ▣ ▣ He was convicted in 2012 On appeal Packingham again challenged the statute's constitutionality

A picture is worth a thousand words

Facebook Screenshot

The Legal Issue

Question Does North Carolina law prohibiting registered sex offenders from accessing various websites, where minors are known to be active and have accounts, regardless of whether or not the sex offender directly interacted with a minor, violate the First Amendment? ▣ Packingham’s defense was that the North Carolina State law violated his First Amendment rights

Legal Application

“ North Carolina law makes it a felony for a registered sex offender to access a commercial social networking website where the sex offender knows that the site permits minor children to become members or to create or maintain personal webpages

Holding & Reasoning of Majority

Holding & Reasoning of Majority ▣ ▣ 5 -3 majority Law cannot burden substantially more speech than necessary to advance the government’s legitimate interest

Concurrences & Dissents

Concurrences & Dissents ▣ ▣ Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. , concurred in the judgment Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. and Justice Clarence Thomas also concurred

Summary

References ▣ "Packingham v. North Carolina. " Oyez, 14 Apr. 2019, www. oyez. org/cases/2016/15 -1194. ▣ https: //harvardlawreview. org/2017/11/packingham-v-north-carolina/ ▣ https: //www. supremecourt. gov/opinions/16 pdf/15 -1194_08 l 1. pdf ▣ https: //www. ncleg. gov/Enacted. Legislation/Statutes/PDF/By. Section/Chapt er_14/GS_14 -202. 5. pdf ▣ https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=09 K 46 u. Rztqg