WV: State Supreme Court Rules Probation Internet Restrictions Violate First Amendment
The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals has ruled that completely restricting a person’s access to the internet as a condition of their parole from prison is a violation of the First Amendment.
Here is the decision: http://www.courtswv.gov/supreme-court/docs/spring2018/16-1156.pdf
“Like the statute in Packingham, Mr. Ross’s condition of parole ‘bars access to…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,’” the decision states.
Unlike the statute in Packingham, Ross’s condition of parole extends beyond social media and forbids him from visiting any website, receiving an email from an employer or medical professional, paying a bill online, using the internet to check the weather or using a smartphone.
“Because Mr. Ross’s condition of parole is broader than the statute struck down in Packingham, we find that it is an overbroad restriction of free speech in violation of the First Amendment,” Ketchum wrote.
Discover more from Florida Action Committee
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
I live in Florida. Went to jail for a year. Was on probation for 4 years from 2008-2011. I had to wear an ankle monitor the whole time. I was NOT allowed to use a computer for Any reason, even though this was the only way I could try to find employment.
Do you think there is any recourse at this time?
I believe that politicians and cops have become nothing less than ‘virtual peeping toms’. Consider that our right to the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness includes dating, relationships, sex and love. When one is required to turn over to the State user names and other personal information for social media and mobile apps, including those used for adult-to-adult intimacy purposes, it vitually opens our most intimate activities and bedroom doors wide open to government voyeurs, a/k/a perverts. How can one maintain the right to privacy in relationships, including sex with other ADULTS, when our most intimate activities are being monitored by nanny State? I believe it is called “stalking”, which is a felony in many states. Free speech includes the right to conduct one’s lawful “affairs of the heart” in private and away from prying eyes. The insanity must stop…so much is at stake if we do not start pulling back on the reigns of the State and turning the tide. What is happening in Florida would make even the notorius Greek tyrant, Draco, blush! We can only hope and pray that Florida’s ultra conservative judiciary takes a hint from recent court decisions, including SCOTUS’ refusal to hear certain cases, get some cajones and start reversing all of this nonsense.
Here’s another court case stricking down a violation of 1st amendment rights.
Where’s the case for our internet identifiers at now?
We are waiting for an order from the Judge in the Northern District of Florida.
That’s where we were last year in August/September. Wonder what the hold up is??
You can add this recent West Virginia ruling to the rest of the pile.
I know people here are getting impatient, but at least in this waiting period, other court rulings are giving us more ammunition for ours.
Thanks 🙏 for sharing this with us humans who the world 🌎 look 👀 at us like animals if lawmakers can’t seem to get what is going wrong with this topic them God help me to live to see them the same way how others humans treat us
The court system moves at its own pace, slow and slower. Unless you are being convicted that is.
That is the current state of justice in America.