INDIANAPOLIS, June 25 (UPI) -- A U.S. district court judge ruled that an Indiana law allowing warrantless monitoring of former sex offenders' Internet activity was unconstitutionally broad.
The law, passed by Indiana General Assembly and set to take effect next Tuesday, would have amended the state's sexual predator code to include a provision requiring convicted sex offenders to sign a waiver allowing authorities to watch their Internet usage even after they had finished their sentences, probation and parole, The Indianapolis Star reported Wednesday.
The ex-offenders would have had to sign the waiver if they wanted to use e-mail or online chat rooms.
Its authors said the provision was meant to provide more protection for children but U.S. District Judge David Hamilton ruled it violated the U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment guarantee against unreasonable searches.
"The prospect of searches 'at any time' without a search warrant, without probable cause, and without even reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing, would dramatically impair the privacy these plaintiffs have the right to enjoy in their own homes under the Fourth Amendment," Hamilton wrote in his opinion, the Star said.
