Victory in Packingham vs North Carolina
Weekly Update 2017-06-19
Dear Members and Advocates,
This week’s “weekly update” is hitting your inboxes a bit early because we have some significant news to report. This morning, the US Supreme Court’s Opinion in “Packingham” came out and Packingham WON!
Packingham is the case of the North Carolina registrant who posted a comment on his Facebook account. When the police discovered he had a Facebook account, they charged him with violating a North Carolina law that prohibited registrants from accessing social media which allows minors to create an account. Packingham fought his charge all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States and the Justices agreed with him!
The court held that “the statute… enacts a prohibition unprecedented in the scope of First Amendment speech it burdens… With one broad stroke, North Carolina bars access to what for many are the principal sources for knowing current events, checking ads for employment, speaking and listening in the modern public square… Foreclosing access to social media altogether thus prevents users from engaging in the legitimate exercise of First Amendment rights. Even convicted criminals—and in some instances especially convicted criminals—might receive legitimate benefits from these means for access to the world of ideas, particularly if they seek to reform and to pursue lawful and rewarding lives.”
So how does this help us? Well, for starters, any time the Court, especially the Supreme Court of the United States, protects a Constitution right that registrants have been deprived of, it’s a good decision. Secondly, it means that the State of Florida is blocked from coming along and implementing a law that bans registrants in Florida from accessing Social Media.
It is important to distinguish that our Internet Identifier lawsuit is not impacted by the Packingham decision. The issue in that case was a ban and in our case, it’s the registration of our identifiers. While use is not outright prohibited, use is severely chilled by the registration of identifiers.
Undoubtedly more commentary will come out over the next few days, concerning the impact of this decision. Please monitor our website for updates.
Finally, for those in South Florida, tomorrow night we will be having a screening of the documentary “Untouchable”, followed by a Panel Discussion including, among others, our own president, Gail Colletta, Barry University Professor and expert Dr. Jill Levenson and attorney Ron Kleiner. You can add your name to the guest list by going here: http://evite.me/Cfe7rmwpHJ.
Let’s allow today’s good news to motivate us to keep up the fight!
Sincerely,
The Florida Action Committee
Reminder: FAC Meet and Greet in Jacksonville this Saturday Jun 24th from 1-3 pm. To RSVP and receive location details, call (833) 2-REPEAL [833-273-7325] or email anita@floridaactioncommittee.org.
SOME HEADLINES FROM THIS WEEK
California lawmakers approve proposal to end lifetime registry
It’s a debate engulfed with concern and emotion in California, as a number of criminal justice leaders and lawmakers – including Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey – work to revamp the state’s sex offender registry system. As it stands, more than…
Kids shouldn’t be on the registry
An opinion piece in The Hill makes the valid point that, “[c]ontrary to logic, laws designed to protect children from sexual predators often result in punishing children themselves, with what can be lifelong detrimental consequences. In fact, it is possible for two…
Arkansas registrant flies nazi flag in protest of sex offender sign.
A registered person in Salesville, Arkansas hung three nazi flags prominently on his property, in protest of a sex offender sign put up by the city in front of their fire department identifying him as a sex offender. Business owners in Salesville don’t like either…
Bill requires moving companies disclose employed sex offenders
FORT MYERS, Fla. – When a mover comes to your house, do you know who you’re inviting in? A new Florida law wants to make sure you’re notified if a sex offender is working for the moving company you hire. Moving businesses we spoke with say they already have processes…