Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/16pdf/15-1194_08l1.pdf
Page Number: 5.0

2 

PACKINGHAM v. NORTH CAROLINA 

Opinion of the Court 

Second, it “[f]acilitates the social introduction between two 
or  more  persons  for  the  purposes  of  friendship,  meeting
other persons, or information exchanges.”  Ibid.  Third, it 
“[a]llows  users  to  create  Web  pages  or  personal  profiles 
that contain information such as the name or nickname of 
the user, photographs placed on the personal Web page by 
the  user,  other  personal  information  about  the  user,  and
links  to  other  personal  Web  pages  on  the  commercial
social  networking  Web  site  of  friends  or  associates  of  the
user that may be accessed by other users or visitors to the 
Web site.”  Ibid.  And fourth, it “[p]rovides users or visitors
. . . mechanisms to communicate with other users, such as 
a  message  board,  chat  room,  electronic  mail,  or  instant 
messenger.”  Ibid. 

The  statute  includes  two  express  exemptions.    The 
statutory bar does not extend to websites that “[p]rovid[e]
only  one  of  the  following  discrete  services:  photo-sharing, 
electronic  mail,  instant  messenger,  or  chat  room  or  mes-
sage board platform.”  §14–202.5(c)(1).  The law also does 
not  encompass  websites  that  have  as  their  “primary  pur-
pose  the  facilitation  of  commercial  transactions  involving 
goods  or  services  between  [their]  members  or  visitors.” 
§14–202.5(c)(2).

According  to  sources  cited  to  the  Court,  §14–202.5  ap-
plies  to  about  20,000  people  in  North  Carolina  and  the 
State  has  prosecuted  over  1,000  people  for  violating  it.
Brief for Petitioner 6–8. 

B 
In  2002,  petitioner  Lester  Gerard  Packingham—then  a
21-year-old  college  student—had  sex  with  a  13-year-old 
girl.  He pleaded guilty to taking indecent liberties with a 
child.  Because this crime qualifies as “an offense against 
a  minor,”  petitioner  was  required  to  register  as  a  sex
offender—a  status  that  can  endure  for  30  years  or  more.
See  §14–208.6A;  see  §14–208.7(a).  As  a  registered  sex