CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
Jacob Keohane
Dalton v. State
In Dalton v. State, 477 P.3d 650 (Alaska App. Ct. 2020), the court of appeals held that prohibiting a paroled felon from accessing the internet without his probation officer’s permission is an undue restriction on liberty. (Id. at 656). In 2017, Kevin Dalton sexually assaulted his sleeping stepdaughter after using the internet to view pornography, including a video titled “Dad fucks sleeping step daughter 01.” (Id. at 651.) The trial court sentenced him to twenty years, with ten years suspended, and ten years of probation. (id.) As a condition of his future probation, Dalton would be forbidden from accessing the internet without his probation officer’s permission. (Id. at 652.) The Court of Appeals held that this condition unduly restricted Dalton’s First Amendment rights, because Dalton did not directly use the internet to commit his crime. (Id. at 655.) It also observed that internet access has become a practical necessity in contemporary society. (Id.) The court of appeals encouraged the trial court, on remand, to consider a more narrowly tailored limitation. (Id. at 656.) Accordingly, the court of appeals held that prohibiting a paroled felon from accessing the internet without his probation officer’s permission is an undue restriction on liberty. (Id.)
