People v. GalleyPeople v. Galley
James E. Chadd, Patricia Mysza, and Jonathan Yeasting, of State Appellate Defender’s Office, of Chicago, for appellant.
Jay Scott, State’s Attorney, of Decatur (Patrick Delfino, David J. Robinson, and James Ryan Williams, of State’s Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor’s Office, of counsel), for the People.
Presiding Justice Knecht concurred in the judgment and opinion.
Justice Turner dissented, with opinion.
OPINION
¶ 1 In January 2017, the State charged defendant, Jonathan R. Galley, with four counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, Class X felonies (
¶ 2 On appeal, defendant argues the Illinois Supreme Court’s decision in People v. Morger, 2019 IL 123643, 160 N.E.3d 53, renders “the blanket statutory prohibition on use of social media as [an MSR] condition *** unconstitutional on its face under the First Amendment.” We agree.
I. BACKGROUND
¶ 4 In January 2017, the State charged defendant by way of a 10-count information alleging he sexually abused his girlfriend’s 11-year-old granddaughter multiple times between October 1 and December 19, 2016. The State charged defendant with four counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child under the age of 13 (
¶ 5 Defendant’s MSR terms included the following mandatory provision from subsection (a)(7.12) of the Unified Code of Corrections:
“The conditions of parole or mandatory supervised release shall be such as the Prisoner Review Board deems necessary to assist the subject in leading a law-abiding life. The conditions of every parole and mandatory supervised release are that the subject:
* * *
(7.12) if convicted of a sex offense as defined in the Sex Offender Registration Act committed on or after January 1, 2010 (the effective date of Public Act 96-262), refrain from accessing or using a social networking website as defined in Section 17-0.5 of the Criminal Code of 2012[.]” (Emphasis added.)
730 ILCS 5/3-3-7(a)(7.12) (West 2016).
Illinois law further provides:
” ‘Social networking website’ means an Internet website containing profile web pages of the members of the website that include the names or nicknames of such members, photographs placed on the profile web pages by such members, or any other personal or personally identifying information about such members and links to other profile web pages on social networking websites of friends or associates of such members that can be accessed by other members or visitors to the website. A social networking website provides members of or visitors to such website the ability to leave messages or comments on the profile web page that are visible to all or some visitors to the profile web page and may also include a form of electronic mail for members of the social networking website.”
720 ILCS 5/17-0.5 (West 2016).
¶ 6 Defendant filed a motion to reconsider, alleging two trial errors and an excessive
¶ 7 This appeal followed.
II. ANALYSIS
¶ 9 Relying upon the Illinois Supreme Court’s decision in Morger, defendant challenges as overbroad and facially unconstitutional one statutory MSR condition—prohibiting accessing or using social networking websites. The State concedes the argument and echoes defendant’s claim that subsection (a)(7.12) of the Unified Code of Corrections (
¶ 10 A challenge to the constitutionality of a statute presents a legal question we review de novo. People v. Minnis, 2016 IL 119563, ¶ 21, 67 N.E.3d 272. Since we presume statutes are constitutional, the “party challenging the constitutionality of a statute [bears] the burden of establishing its invalidity.” In re J.W., 204 Ill. 2d 50, 62, 787 N.E.2d 747, 754 (2003).
¶ 11 “First amendment protections for speech extend fully to communications made through the medium of the Internet,” meaning laws curtailing Internet speech must pass constitutional muster. Minnis, 2016 IL 119563, ¶ 23. Here, we consider a statute prohibiting a person on MSR from accessing or using social networking websites, which defendant challenges as overbroad and facially unconstitutional. “According to [the] First Amendment overbreadth doctrine, a statute is facially invalid if it prohibits a substantial amount of protected speech.” United States v. Williams, 553 U.S. 285, 292 (2008). Specifically, “a law may be invalidated as overbroad only if a substantial number of its applications to protected speech are unconstitutional, judged in relation to the statute’s plainly legitimate sweep.” Minnis, 2016 IL 119563, ¶ 24.
¶ 12 Besides being overbroad, a statute imposing a content-neutral restriction on Internet speech can be unconstitutional if it fails intermediate scrutiny. A restriction on speech is content-neutral if it limits speech regardless of what the speech is about, i.e., the ideas or views expressed. See Minnis, 2016 IL 119563, ¶ 33. To withstand intermediate scrutiny, the statute’s content-neutral restriction on speech must clear two hurdles:
“(1) [it] must serve or advance a substantial governmental interest unrelated to the suppression of free speech and (2) [it] must not burden substantially more speech than necessary to further that interest—or in other words, it must be narrowly tailored to serve that interest without unnecessarily interfering with first amendment freedoms.” Minnis, 2016 IL 119563, ¶ 36.
The parties direct our attention to Morger, believing first it provides the template for our analysis and, second, it directs the outcome of this case.
A. People v. Morger
¶ 14 In Morger, our supreme court recently applied these two tests, overbreadth and intermediate scrutiny, when evaluating facial challenges to a statutory probation provision that is nearly identical to this statutory MSR term. There, the court considered the following statute:
“The conditions of probation and of conditional discharge shall be that the person: * * *
(8.9) if convicted of a sex offense as defined in the Sex Offender Registration Act committed on or after January 1, 2010 (the effective date of Public Act 96-262), refrain from accessing or using a social networking website as defined in Section 17-0.5 of the Criminal Code of 2012[.]” (Emphasis added.)
730 ILCS 5/5-6-3(a)(8.9) (West 2016).
As one may note, this italicized language mirrors that of the statute at issue in this case.
¶ 15 As part of its carefully reasoned analysis, the Morger court concluded the above statute ” ‘is part of a statutory scheme intended to prevent sex offenses against children and to protect the public,’ ” suggesting the statute served a substantial governmental interest or had a plainly legitimate sweep. Morger, 2019 IL 123643, ¶ 45 (quoting Minnis, 2016 IL 119563, ¶ 34). Nevertheless, the court found the above-cited statutory probation condition “overbroad and facially unconstitutional” because “in its current form” the statute ” ‘prohibits constitutionally protected activity as well as activity that may be prohibited without offending constitutional rights.’ ” Morger, 2019 IL 123643, ¶ 58 (quoting People v. Relerford, 2017 IL 121094, ¶ 50, 104 N.E.3d 341). As part of the intermediate-scrutiny analysis, the court found no narrow tailoring, explaining the probation condition “unnecessarily sweeps within its purview those who never used the Internet—much less social media—to commit their offenses and who show no propensity to do so, as well as those whose Internet activities can be supervised and monitored by less restrictive means.” Morger, 2019 IL 123643, ¶ 58. Concerning overbreadth, the court similarly concluded: ” ’ [A] substantial number of its applications are unconstitutional, judged in relation to the statute’s legitimate sweep’ [citation], which is protection of the public.” (Emphasis in original.) Morger, 2019 IL 123643, ¶ 58 (quoting People v. Clark, 2014 IL 115776, ¶ 11, 6 N.E.3d 154).
¶ 16 Defendant argues: ”Morger direct[s] the result in this case: a ban on accessing social media for the duration of MSR—which can last as long as natural life—is just as unconstitutional as a ban for the duration of a sex offender registration or probation.” The State likewise maintains: “Our supreme court’s holding in People v. Morger, reviewing the same condition in an analogous constitutional context, directly answers the question of whether the MSR condition banning defendant from accessing ‘social media websites’ is unconstitutionally overbroad and not narrowly tailored.” We certainly appreciate the supreme court’s comprehensive analysis, and of course, we are bound by its decision when it controls a case under our review. See Doyle v. Hood, 2018 IL App (2d) 171041, ¶ 35, 112 N.E.3d 1040. But the Morger court made clear its opinion applied to only the specific probation provision found at “subsection (a)(8.9) of section 5-6-3 of the Code of Corrections.” Morger, 2019 IL 123643, ¶ 59. The court declined to speak in broad or sweeping terms. So even though Morger and this case consider nearly identical statutory provisions—each mandating a person, “if convicted of a sex offense as defined in the Sex Offender Registration Act committed on or after January 1, 2010 ***, refrain
B. Morger and Packingham Emphasize the Importance of Internet Speech
¶ 18 Digging deeper into Morger, we find a heavy emphasis on the reformative and rehabilitative potential for a probationer using social networking websites. In arriving at its holding, our supreme court parsed the United States Supreme Court’s opinion in Packingham v. North Carolina, 582 U.S. 98, 137 S. Ct. 1730 (2017), observing “the Supreme Court repeatedly emphasized the importance of social media in modern life.” Morger, 2019 IL 123643, ¶ 28.
¶ 19 In Packingham, the Supreme Court considered a law “mak[ing] it a felony for a registered sex offender ‘to access a commercial social networking Web site where the sex offender knows that the site permits minor children to become members or to create or maintain personal Web pages.’ ” Packingham, 582 U.S. at 102, 137 S. Ct. at 1733 (quoting N.C. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 14-202.5(a), (e) (2015)). The Court noted the Internet, and social media specifically, represents a twenty-first century quintessential public forum where people “engage in a wide array of protected First Amendment activity on topics ‘as diverse as human thought.’ ” Packingham, 582 U.S. at 105-06, 137 S. Ct. at 1735-36. The Packingham Court concluded the challenged law failed intermediate scrutiny because it was not narrowly tailored, even describing the content-neutral statute as “a prohibition unprecedented in the scope of First Amendment speech it burdens.” Packingham, 582 U.S. at 108-09, 137 S. Ct. at 1737-38. The Court explained: “to foreclose access to social media altogether is to prevent the user from engaging in the legitimate exercise of First Amendment rights.” Packingham, 582 U.S. at 108, 137 S. Ct. at 1737.
¶ 20 Although Packingham did not address the exact issue here—it considered social media restrictions for sex offenders who completed their sentences, not social media restrictions for sex offenders still serving sentences on probation—our supreme court relied heavily upon it in Morger. For example, our supreme court twice quoted the following paragraph from Packingham:
” ‘In sum, to foreclose access to social media altogether is to prevent the user from engaging in the legitimate exercise of First Amendment rights. It is unsettling to suggest that only a limited set of websites can be used even by persons who have completed their sentences. Even convicted criminals—and in some instances especially convicted criminals—might receive legitimate benefits from these means for access to the world of ideas, in particular if they seek to reform and to pursue lawful and rewarding lives.’ ” (Emphasis added.) Morger, 2019 IL 123643, ¶ 33 (quoting Packingham, 582 U.S. at 108, 137 S. Ct. at 1737).
Our supreme court not only judged this passage “relevant in this context” of probation (Morger, 2019 IL 123643, ¶ 51) but said it “carrie[d] momentous weight in our resolution of this case.” (Emphasis added.) Morger, 2019 IL 123643, ¶ 34. Signaling its importance,
¶ 21 Morger’s extension of Packingham to probationers is telling. Unlike those federal courts that focused on the defendant’s status, our supreme court focused more on the benefits of social media to convicted criminals—including those still serving their sentences. We interpret this as the Illinois Supreme Court emphasizing the reformative and rehabilitative aspects of social media over a defendant’s status. We see no reason why that emphasis would not carry over to persons on MSR, who (like probationers) are also trying to reintegrate back into society with conditional liberty. See Round v. Lamb, 2017 IL 122271, ¶ 21, 90 N.E.3d 432.
¶ 22 Another important feature in Morger’s rationale comes from its review of federal cases. On the road to finding the statutory probation condition unconstitutional, our supreme court analyzed several federal cases that found conditions of supervised release regulating defendants’ Internet use violated the first amendment. Morger, 2019 IL 123643, ¶¶ 36-38, 40-42 (discussing federal court of appeals decisions). The court acknowledged the federal cases differed from the Morger case because they considered supervised release, not probation; however, the court opined those federal cases “deal with the same concerns that we consider relevant” here. Morger, 2019 IL 123643, ¶ 36. As we read it, we do not see anywhere in the discussion where the supreme court noted if or how the context of supervised release, as opposed to probation, affected its analysis or outcome. At one point, the court referenced “supervised release or probation” when discussing the potential reach of Packingham and other cases. Morger, 2019 IL 123643, ¶ 39. The upshot for our discussion is that, even though the Morger court limited its holding to the one statutory probation condition (subsection (a)(8.9) of section 5-6-3 of the Unified Code of Corrections), its analysis and reasoning drew heavily from cases considering supervised release provisions. Although that approach
C. Probation and MSR
¶ 24 Probation and MSR represent two different points on “the ‘continuum’ of state-imposed punishments,” with MSR sitting closer to imprisonment on that scale. People v. Wilson, 228 Ill. 2d 35, 43-44, 885 N.E.2d 1033, 1039 (2008) (quoting Samson v. California, 547 U.S. 843, 850 (2006)). For instance, Illinois’s Unified Code of Corrections provides that felony sentences of imprisonment in DOC must include an MSR term (
¶ 25 Although probation and MSR occupy two different points on the punishment spectrum, “[p]robationers and persons on MSR are similarly situated in the broad sense that both enjoy conditional liberty.” Moss, 217 Ill. 2d at 522. They are granted conditional liberty for purposes of rehabilitating past criminal behavior while reintegrating into society as law-abiding citizens. See United States v. Knights, 534 U.S. 112, 120-21 (2001) (stating a defendant who “successfully complete[s] probation [can] be integrated back into the community“); Lamb, 2017 IL 122271, ¶ 21 (“Mandatory supervised release is designed to facilitate reintegration back into society ***.“). Whether it is this shared purpose or some other reason, their conditional liberty often results in probationers and persons on MSR having similar or even equal status vis-à-vis constitutional protections. For example, our supreme court “has stated generally that probationers and parolees share the same status for fourth amendment purposes.” Moss, 217 Ill. 2d at 521-22. The First District, without deciding whether the statutes passed constitutional muster, previously recognized probationers and persons on MSR share a similar status for second amendment purposes. People v. Garvin, 2013 IL App (1st) 113095, ¶¶ 20-21, 994 N.E.2d 1076. Both probationers and persons on MSR are subject to many of the same restrictions on possessing firearms and ammunition. See
D. Overbreadth and Intermediate Scrutiny
¶ 27 Finding the statutory probation condition overbroad and facially unconstitutional, the Morger court held a blanket restriction on accessing or using social networking websites violated a probationer’s first amendment rights. Since we are faced with a nearly identical rendition of the probation provision considered in Morger, we follow the Illinois Supreme Court’s reasoning and come to the same conclusion—subsection (a)(7.12) of section 3-3-7 of the Unified Code of Corrections is overbroad and facially unconstitutional. Concerning overbreadth: by completely prohibiting access or use of social networking websites, twenty-first century quintessential fora, the statute ” ‘prohibits constitutionally protected activity as well as activity that may be prohibited without offending constitutional rights.’ ” Morger, 2019 IL 123643, ¶ 58 (quoting Relerford, 2017 IL 121094, ¶ 50). The statutory prohibition applies to a sex offender on MSR, even if he or she did not use a social networking website in committing the underlying offense. It prevents a person on MSR from accessing or using social media, which “offers ‘relatively unlimited, low-cost capacity for communication of all kinds.’ ” Packingham, 582 U.S. at 104, 137 S. Ct. at 1732. Consequently, we deem the statutory MSR provision overbroad because ” ‘[a] substantial number of [the statute’s] applications are unconstitutional, judged in relation to [its] legitimate sweep.’ ” Morger, 2019 IL 123643, ¶ 58 (quoting Clark, 2014 IL 115776, ¶ 11).
¶ 28 For similar reasons, the statutory MSR provision fails intermediate scrutiny as well. The statute undoubtedly serves a substantial governmental interest—namely, foreclosing sex offenders on MSR from identifying or contacting victims through social networking websites. But the statutory MSR condition is not narrowly tailored. By imposing a blanket ban on all access and use of social media, now probably the most commonly used forum for gathering information and communicating ideas, even when social media played no part in the crime, this statute “unnecessarily sweeps within its purview those who never used the Internet—much less social media—to commit their offenses and who show no propensity to do so, as well as those whose Internet activities can be supervised and monitored by less restrictive means.” Morger, 2019 IL 123643, ¶ 58. Just as the supreme court noted in Morger for probationers, persons on MSR may still be subject to more specific limitations placed on their Internet access or use, like preliminary approval from the parole officer, unannounced examinations of Internet use, or installing hardware to monitor Internet use, all of which would serve a legitimate public interest without violating a person’s first amendment rights.
III. CONCLUSION
¶ 30 For the reasons stated, we find subsection (a)(7.12) of section 3-3-7 of the Unified Code of Corrections (
¶ 31 Affirmed in part and vacated in part.
¶ 32 JUSTICE TURNER, dissenting:
¶ 33 I respectfully dissent. The appeal in this case should be dismissed because the sole issue raised on appeal is not justiciable.
¶ 34 A basic tenet of justiciability provides the following:
” ‘[r]eviewing courts will not decide moot or abstract questions or render advisory opinions. Courts of review ordinarily will not consider issues where they are not essential to the disposition of the cause or where the result will not be affected
regardless of how the issues are decided.’ ” People ex rel. Sklodowski v. State, 162 Ill. 2d 117, 130, 642 N.E.2d 1180, 1185 (1994) (quoting Barth v. Reagan, 139 Ill. 2d 399, 419, 564 N.E.2d 1196, 1205 (1990)).
¶ 35 On appeal, defendant only challenges the constitutionality of section 3-3-7(a)(7.12) of the Unified Code of Corrections (
¶ 36 Section 3-3-7 is contained in chapter three of article three of the Unified Code of Corrections (
¶ 37 I do not dispute the prisoner review board would have to impose the MSR condition contained in section 3-3-7(a)(7.12) on defendant if he was released from prison on MSR in the near future. However, section 3-3-7(a)(7.12) is not a current condition imposed on defendant while he is in DOC, and defendant is not expected to be released on MSR until September 11, 2046, more than 25 years from now (see Internet Inmate Status, Ill. Dep’t of Corr., https://www.idoc.state.il.us/subsections/search/inms_print.asp?idoc=Y27343 (last visited Aug. 9, 2021) [https://perma.cc/F7CD-BQAB]). As such, defendant is not close to receiving his MSR conditions. See
¶ 38 Given the virtual impossibility the prisoner review board will ever impose the MSR condition contained in section 3-3-7(a)(7.12) of the Unified Code of Corrections on defendant, finding the statute unconstitutional does not have any effect on defendant and is an abstract question in this case. As such, defendant’s sole argument lacks justiciability, and the appeal should be dismissed.