Today, the Supreme Court unanimously decided that Packingham was right. “Foreclosing access to social media altogether thus prevents users from engaging in the legitimate exercise of First Amendment rights,” reads Justice Anthony Kennedy’s opinion. “Even convicted criminals—and in some instances especially convicted criminals—might receive legitimate benefits from these means for access to the world of ideas, particularly if they seek to reform and to pursue lawful and rewarding lives.”

The decision, Justice Kennedy acknowledges, is “one of the first cases the Court has taken to address the relationship between the First Amendment and the modern internet.” It's a relationship that is being consistently tested, as people not only increasingly rely on social media as a core communication channel but also as courts begin using the things they say and do online against them. Packingham v. North Carolina, at least, establishes that the government can't just uniformly bar people from using expansive chunks of the internet.

Gerry feels safe now.