Packingham v. North Carolina
Type
Case
Week
Week 4
Course
LA 50: Constitutional Law
Definition
A case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that a North Carolina statute that prohibited registered sex offenders from using social media websites is unconstitutional because it violates the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which protects the freedom of speech. In an opinion by Justice Anthony Kennedy, who has since retired, the Supreme Court observed that the state law “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.”