https://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2017/06/ban-on-sex-offenders-using-social-media-violates-first-amendment-packingham-v-north-carolina.htm Fri, 23 Jun 2017 23:06:37 +0000 hourly 1 https://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2017/06/ban-on-sex-offenders-using-social-media-violates-first-amendment-packingham-v-north-carolina.htm#comment-1873 Fri, 23 Jun 2017 06:54:00 +0000 http://blog.ericgoldman.org/?p=17321#comment-1873 I think that the majority ruling in this case is the correct and objective interpretation of the law. However, the alternative suggested by Justice Kennedy is near impossible to implement. This exposes the existent lack of technical expertise that plague judiciary while handling internet or tech cases. In a liberal democracy it is very important to balance out interests based on the principle of proportionality. Instead of coming up with an over arching ban or the complete overthrowing of the Act by the judiciary, there should have been a preliminary evaluation panel at place to access whether the sex offender should be allowed to use social media websites or not. After such evaluation, a report should be prepared mentioning what sort of websites should be allowed to be used by the offender. This would keep the law within the four walls of First Amendment and would also create a manageable and proportional mechanism for the law enforcement agencies to maintain security.

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