By Robin . . . Having already contacted Mark Zuckerberg by letter dated June 27, 2017, NARSOL has now released a nationwide press release hoping to bring additional pressure upon the social media giant to cease its nearly nine-year-old practice of barring registered citizens from creating or maintaining Facebook user accounts. While it’s important to note that the Supreme Court’s recent decision…
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By David Booth . . . On June 19, the Supreme Court of the United States affirmed the value of social media as a pervasive news source and a socially ingrained forum for exchanging communications when it struck down an overreaching North Carolina statute. The North Carolina law under consideration made it a felony for any person on the sex…
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By Robin . . . In a broadly worded opinion penned by Justice Kennedy, a unanimous Supreme Court has closed the door on laws restricting access to the internet and social media forums by Americans who were convicted of a crime but who are no longer serving a criminal sentence. In reversing the N.C. Supreme Court’s decision in Packingham v.…
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By Sandy…. “Tell me no secrets; tell me no lies.” As the song lyrics say, I have always assumed that people don’t want to be lied to, that they want the truth from others. I have a friend, however, who says this is not true, and he makes a good case. The latest topic to be subjected to scrutiny is…
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By Perry Grossman . . . On April 27, 2010, Lester Gerard Packingham Jr. posted a Facebook status: “Man God is Good! How about I got so much favor they dismiss the ticket before court even started. No fine, No court costs, no nothing spent. . . . Praise be to GOD, WOW! Thanks JESUS!” This post appears entirely ordinary—something…
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By Sandy . . . “There are three principal features of North Carolina’s law that make it a stark abridgment of the Freedom of Speech.” These words, spoken by attorney David Goldberg, opened the oral arguments of the petitioner Lester Packingham to the Supreme Court today, Monday, February 27. At 21, Mr. Packingham was convicted of taking indecent liberties with…
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE . . . Contact: Sandy Rozek; 888.997.7765 communications@nationalrsol.org Supreme Court set to hear oral argument on Monday Do sex offenders have a First Amendment right to social media access? The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Monday in a case out of North Carolina that considers whether people who have been convicted of a sexually based offense…
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By Andrew Cohen . . . Lester Gerard Packingham was having a really good day back on April 27, 2010. The North Carolina man had just learned that a traffic ticket against him had been dismissed, so he logged onto his Facebook account and gleefully told the world: “Man God is Good! How about I got so much favor they…
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published here…. Washington, D.C. — The National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws – NARSOL — demands answers from Tangipahoa Parish officials regarding the savage beating and death of Tommy Joe Smith while in custody for a technical probation violation. According to media accounts, parish officials have thus far declined to discuss their policies for the housing of those…
Read MoreBy Robin Vanderwall . . . The United States Supreme Court has accepted the petition for a writ of certiorari from Lester Gerard Packingham who was arrested in 2012 for posting a message on Facebook in violation of North Carolina’s prohibition against sex offenders accessing social media websites. On petition to the U.S. Supreme Court since January 2016, the Packingham…
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