Court Vacates Stalking Convictions on First Amendment Grounds

Yesterday the court of appeals vacated Brady Lorenzo Shackelford’s convictions for felony stalking on the basis that the prosecution of Shackelford for violating G.S. 14-277.3A impermissibly infringed upon his constitutional right to free speech. This post will review the court’s opinion in State v. Shackelford, ___ N.C. App. ___ (March 19, 2019), consider how it might affect future prosecutions, and suggest statutory amendments to stave off future constitutional challenges. What is felony stalking? A person is guilty of stalking if he or she (1) willfully (2) without legal purpose harasses another person on more than one occasion or engages in a course of conduct directed at a specific person (3) knowing that the harassment or course of conduct would cause a reasonable person to fear for the person’s safety or the safety of the person’s immediate family or close personal associates or suffer substantial emotional distress by placing that person in fear of death, bodily injury, or continued harassment. G.S. 14-277.3A(c). Harassment is “[k]nowing conduct, including written or printed communication or transmission . . . telephonic communication . . . and electronic mail messages or other computerized or electronic transmissions directed at a specific person that torments, terrorizes or terrifies that person and that serves no legitimate purpose.” G.S. 14-277.3A(b)(2). A course of conduct is “[t]wo or more acts, including, but not limited to, acts in which the stalker directly, indirectly, or through third parties, by any action, method, device, or means, is in the presence of, or follows, monitors, observes, [...]