The following is an archived video story. The text content of that video story is available below for reference. The original video has been deleted and is no longer available.

Court: Sex Offender Facebook Ban Unconstitutional


A federal appeals court has ruled that an Indiana law banning registered sex offenders from accessing Facebook and other social networking sites is unconstitutional.

The 7th U.S. Circuit of Appeals in Chicago on Wednesday overturned a federal judge's decision to uphold the law, saying the ban was too broad.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt ruled in June that the state has a strong interest in protecting children and found that social networking had created a "virtual playground for sexual predators."

The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed the class-action suit on behalf of sex offenders including a man who served three years for child exploitation. They were all restricted by the ban even though they are no longer on probation.

(Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)