Question

Does anybody know the case about Lester Gerard Packingham, plaintiff v. state of North Carolina, defendant (Facebook)? Can someone share an insite or conclusion about this issue.

Answer 1

The Court concluded that even with these assumptions, the Statute enacted an over-broad provision that burdens huge swathes of First Amendment speech. The Court reasoned that “North Carolina with one broad stroke 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, and otherwise exploring the vast realms of human thought and knowledge. These websites can provide perhaps the most powerful mechanisms available to a private citizen to make his or her voice heard. They allow a person with an Internet connection to ‘become a town crier with a voice that resonates farther than it could from any soapbox.’” [p. 8] The Court also indicated that access to some of the websites captured by the Statute could be beneficial for sex offenders seeking to reform and “pursue lawful and rewarding lives.”

Because North Carolina was unable to demonstrate to the Court why the breadth of the law was necessary to serve the purpose of protecting children from abuse, the Court reversed the decision of the North Carolina Supreme Court. The Court held that the Statute failed the test of intermediate scrutiny, and remanded the case for a ruling consistent with its judgment.