Internet and adult-pornography bans violate the First Amendment in child sex-offender case

District courts have broad discretion to sentence offenders, including sex offenders. But there are limits. In this case, the Second Circuit holds that a trial judge in Albany went too far in prohibiting a sex offender (involving two 13-year-old girls) from accessing the Internet for the next 11 years. The Court also says the trial judge exceeded her authority in prohibiting the defendant from accessing adult pornography.

The case is United States v. Eaglin, issued on January 11. Writing for the Court, Judge Carney says the trial court's restrictions "are such unusual and severe conditions" that "merit our close examination" despite deference to the district court's conditions of supervised release.

This is ultimately a free speech case. Like it or not, even sex offenders have constitutional rights. This case could not have been decided 25 years ago, pre-Internet. But with a ubiquitous Internet, judges have to determine how Internet usage -- or Internet bans -- impact the First Amendment. Even unsympathetic parties can win cases under the First Amendment, as demonstrated by this case.

On the Internet ban, the Court says that "in a modern society," Eaglin has a constitutional right to access the Internet, as per a Supreme Court ruling from 2017, Packingham v. North Carolina. The ban imposed here is pretty broad, as "Eaglin has a First Amendment right to be able to email, blog, and discuss the issues of the day on the Internet while he is on supervised release." Not being able to go online means Eaglin won't be able to look for work, even though being employed is one of the conditions of his supervised release. Eaglin's offenses did not even involve the Internet. In short, absolute Internet bans violate the Constitution, no matter who the criminal defendant is or what he has done.

What about the legal adult pornography ban? At first glance, they may seem reasonable, as defendant is a sex-offender. The problem with this condition is that it bears no relationship to Eaglin's offenses (involving minors), and there is no showing that accessing legal adult pornography will have any recidivist consequences.  All the trial court said on this point was that "when you view pornography, I happen to believe that the community is at risk from you." This general statement is not enough for an across-the-board ban like this, the Court of Appeals says, as the judge did not say why viewing adult pornography would present such a risk. There is no evidence that defendant has a history of viewing child pornography.