No. 20-7537

Christopher D. Thieme v. New Jersey

Lower Court: New Jersey
Docketed: 2021-03-23
Status: Denied
Type: IFP
Response WaivedIFP
Tags: cyber-harassment due-process free-speech libel obscenity overbreadth reasonable-person-standard scienter vagueness victim-impact-statements
Latest Conference: 2021-05-20
Question Presented (from Petition)

Is New Jersey's "cyber-harassment" statute, N.J.S.A. 2C:33-4.1, constitutionally invalid because it lacks a scienter requirement and relies on a "reasonable person" standard which dilutes the burden of proof and violates due process in the wake of Elonis v. United States, 575 U.S. 723 (2015)?

Is New Jersey's "cyber-harassment" statute constitutionally invalid for being "overbroad" and "void-for-vagueness" because of statutorily undefined terms proscribing "lewd, indecent, and obscene material" and the causing of "emotional harm" that are impermissibly vague and criminalize too wide a swath of protected expression?

What is the definition of "lewd, indecent, and obscene material" and the boundaries of obscenity in the internet age? Could this specific statutory language in a state criminal statute survive free speech and due process scrutiny given this Court's holdings in FCC v. Fox, 556 U.S. 502 (2009), Reno v. ACLU, 524 U.S. 844 (1997), and Sable Communications v. FCC, 492 U.S. 115 (1989)?

Is the publishing online of libellous material directed to the general public that neither directly harasses the victims so libelled or makes any threatening communication "protected expression"? How does the publishing of said libellous material as a public blog post online differ from a printed flier, a tell-all book, or other protected media, to permit the State of New Jersey to criminalize it chiefly because it is an online utterance? Cf. Joseph Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson, 343 U.S. 495, 502 (1952).

If a defendant facing sentencing is not provided with "victim impact statements" to either review himself and/or with counsel before sentencing but then those same victim impact statements are subsequently read several times and heavily considered by the sentencing judge, is this defendant denied a meaningful opportunity to allocate or confront the material pursuant to the protections of the Due Process and Confrontation clauses?

Question Presented (AI Summary)

Is New Jersey's 'cyber-harassment' statute constitutionally invalid?

Docket Entries

2021-05-24
Petition DENIED.
2021-05-05
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/20/2021.
2021-04-29
Waiver of right of respondent New Jersey to respond filed.
2021-03-12
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due April 22, 2021)

Attorneys

Christopher D. Thieme
Christopher Thieme — Petitioner
New Jersey
Catherine A. FoddaiBergen County Prosecutor's Office, Respondent