“The NC Board of Examiners and Surveyors claimed that this was punishable by a misdemeanor unless he obtained a professional engineer’s license from the state.”
Wayne Nutt is a retired engineer who posted his opinions about public works designs online. North Carolina’s licensing board decided that was a crime without its permission slip. Chief Judge Richard Myers ruled the state violated the First Amendment. A licensing board that polices blog comments about drainage is protecting its turf, not the public.