Doe v. Harris (9th Cir. 2014)

Doe v. Harris, 772 F.3d 563 (9th Cir. 2014)

Nature of Case: Federal civil appeal from the grant of a preliminary injunction barring enforcement of California statute which required that registrants provide state authorities with a list of internet identifiers and service providers used, and to notify of any changes within 24 hours (“CASE Act”).

Holding: Court held that the act imposed a substantial burden to engage in legitimate online speech, under intermediate scrutiny, that the act was not narrowly tailored and unnecessarily chills speech in three ways: it does not make clear what the reporting requirements are, there are insufficient safeguards preventing the public release of what is required, and the 24-hour reporting requirement is onerous and overbroad.