State won't challenge Facebook ruling

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Indiana has decided not to ask a federal appeals court to reconsider a ruling that overturned a state law that banned convicted sex offenders from social networking websites.

American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana legal director Ken Falk said Thursday that the attorney general's office would not ask the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago to rehear the case.

The court said in January that the 2008 law was too broad and violated freedom of speech.

State lawmakers are currently rewriting the law to try to make it conform to constitutional limits. A Senate committee has approved an amended version that applies only to offenders convicted of child-related sex crimes who knowingly use social networks, instant messaging or chat rooms to communicate with children under age 16.