Justice Barry Albin.

The New Jersey Supreme Court, filling gaps in a criminal harassment statute it says is too vague as written, ruled Tuesday that the criminal conviction of a corrections officer who added offensive comments to a co-worker's wedding photos and posted them as flyers cannot stand.

Justice Barry Albin, writing the majority opinion in State v. Burkert, said that while defendant William Burkert's actions were “unprofessional, puerile and inappropriate,” the conduct was protected by the First Amendment, and it affirmed an appeals court ruling that overturned his conviction on two counts of harassment.

The court acknowledged a vagueness issue in the law, though it declined to void it as unconstitutional. Instead, it set forth a standard for criminal harassment cases based on “pure expressive activity.”