People v. Marquan M.
New York Court of Appeals
19 N.E.3d 480 (2014)
- Written by Caitlinn Raimo, JD
Facts
Marquan M. (defendant), a minor and a high-school student in Albany County (the county) (plaintiff) created an anonymous Facebook account to which he posted photographs of his classmates and descriptions of their sexual partners and practices. After Marquan was determined to be the creator of the account, the county charged him with cyberbullying under the county’s criminal statute. The statute prohibited the publishing through “mechanical or electronic means” of “private, personal, false or sexual information . . . with no legitimate private, personal, or public purpose” with “intent to harass, annoy, threaten, abuse, taunt, intimidate, torment, humiliate, or otherwise inflict significant emotional harm on another person.” Marquan filed a motion to dismiss in city court, challenging the statute under the free-speech clause of the First Amendment. The motion was denied. Marquan pleaded guilty and appealed. The county court found the law constitutional insofar as it prohibited the cyberbullying of children. Marquan appealed again. During the appeal, the county sought to justify the statute under strict scrutiny by asking the court to sever the unconstitutional portions and allow the remainder of the statute to stand.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Graffeo, J.)
Dissent (Smith, J.)
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