Court: Teen Juvie Can't Be Barred From Social Media
His offenses weren't Internet-related, so the limits make no sense
A 15-year-old juvenile delinquent can't be completely prohibited from using Facebook, Twitter, or other social-media sites, a California state appeals court says.
The San Diego court ruled that a teenage boy who molested a toddler and grabbed and detained a teenage girl has a First Amendment right to use social media and chat rooms—in part, the justices said,
because his offenses didn't involve the Internet.
Those restrictions "are not tailored to Andre's convictions for violating another's personal liberty, willfully annoying and molesting another, unlawful use of force, and lewd and lascivious conduct, or the juvenile
court's dual goals of rehabilitation and public safety," wrote Justice Terry O'Rourke. (Because Andre is a minor, the court did not include his last name. Nor would CNET disclose it if the court had.)