SEX OFFENDERS SEEK COURTS’ PERMISSION FOR INTERNET RIGHTS

A person convicted of a sex offense in Illinois may be required to register as a sex offender. This often makes reintegration into society difficult. Employment, housing and public events can be limited.

Even the right to communicate online through social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn could be limited or banned for those who have been convicted of a sex crime. Some officials believe that opening up social media sites to registered sex offenders endangers the public. But others argue that forbidding the use of social media sites is a violation of one’s constitutional rights.

States are allowed to control the limits placed on sex offenders. Most state laws prohibit convicted sex offenders from using the same online communication methods and social media websites that everyone else can use.

As a result, some sex offenders are in court to unlock the gates of the Internet that have been closed to them so that they can connect with family and friends online and network with others. Advocates also say that preventing sex offenders from using social media sites deprives them of their basic rights to free speech.

But even if sex offenders are allowed to use social media sites, it would be difficult for states to come up with legislation that satisfies individual free-speech rights while safeguarding children, according to a representative of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Some analysts think that the issue is so complex and controversial that the U.S. Supreme Court might have to resolve it.

Several states give sex offenders limited permission to use the Internet. Some allow sex offenders access to email, news and retail sites. Other states hold firm on restrictions, arguing that online access would encourage sex crime recidivism and harm children.

Courts are trying to decide whether social networking and other websites are as essential to American life as some sex offenders and their advocates claim. If Internet use is found to be a necessary and irreplaceable form of communication, many states may have to rethink restrictive laws that apply to registered sex offenders.

Source: CBS News, “Sex offenders fight for Facebook rights,” May 30, 2012