Harassing E-Mail to Sen. McConnell Can't Be Punished as "Speech Integral to Criminal Conduct"
"The First Amendment limits Congress; Congress does not limit the First Amendment."
Harassment
Florida Judges Split on Injunction Against Critic of State Senator
"Publicly expressing anger toward an elected official is not a basis for entry of an injunction. In public debate, elected officials must tolerate insulting remarks—even angry, outrageous speech—to provide breathing room for the First Amendment."
Ohio S. Ct. Reverses Order Blocking Man from All "Posting About" His Sister and Mother
"Even if past [mentally distressing] speech that an offender made to a person ... could be considered ... integral to the criminal conduct of menacing by stalking [and thus unprotected], we do not believe that this principle may be applied categorically to future speech ... directed to others."
May the Law Ban Calls to Government Offices "Using Indecent Language" "With Intent to Harass or Embarrass"?
With a special cameo appearance by Eric Holder.
Court Orders: Stop Tweeting About Your Ex-Friend's Criminal Conviction—Though Tweets Didn't Use the Man's Name
Fortunately, the Florida Court of Appeal reversed the order.
Five Years in Prison for Posting Facebook Videos Accusing Pastor of Sexual Misconduct
The Mississippi Court of Appeals just overturned the conviction, and struck down the underlying statute, which banned posting messages "whether truthful or untruthful" "for the purpose of causing injury to any person."
Comedian Ordered Not to Post Anything "That Would Suggest to Prospective Employers That They Should Not Hire … or Book" Her Comedian Ex
The California Court of Appeal reversed, in an interesting case about allegations of physical abuse—and claims that the allegations were themselves a form of "abuse."
Manchester Teen Faces Sex Offender Status for Touching 17-Year-Old on the Arm, Waist
"Touching someone's arm to get their attention, I would have thought was normal."
New York City Declares Using the Term 'Illegal Alien' Can Result in a $250,000 Fine
The Commission on Human Rights is likely running afoul of the First Amendment.
How I Was a Criminal Defendant in a N.J. Harassment Case
"Eugene Volokh told the police he refuses to leave me alone."
Florida Senate Member Gets Restraining Order Against Critic
Fortunately, the Florida Court of Appeal has just reversed.
Restraining Order Issued to Ban Unwanted Contact with Mayor by City Commission Candidate
... vacated by the Michigan Court of Appeals.
Texas Appellate Court Strikes Down Electronic Harassment Statute
The ban on online speech intended to and reasonably likely to (among other things) "annoy," the court says, is unconstitutionally vague and overbroad.
Facebook Posts Lewdly Insulting Elected Official Are Criminally Punishable (at Least If They Relate to a Private Dispute)
Such speech, whether about elected officials or others, is punishable, the court held, if it "[does] not express social or political beliefs or constitute legitimate conduct" and "could only serve to harass, annoy or alarm the complainant."
No "Tone-Policing," Says a Court
Sound words from a federal district court decision handed down last year.
Crime to Tweet About People Intending to "Abuse" Them?
That's the legal theory behind a case just filed by prosecutors in Ohio.
Can a Person Be Banned from Posting Anything About Someone Else, Because His Past Speech Supposedly Stems from a "Vendetta"?
Yes, said an Ohio Court of Appeals majority opinion, reasoning that the speaker's past speech "was not engaged in for a legitimate reason, but instead for an illegitimate reason born out of a vendetta seeking to cause mental distress to his mother and sister and to exact personal revenge." No, argue the EFF, Prof. Aaron Caplan, and I in a brief we've just filed with the Ohio Supreme Court.
"Cyberstalking" Ban Violates the First Amendment
So a federal district court in Washington just concluded, about a Washington statute that criminalized "anonymous or repeated" speech intended "to harass, ... torment, or embarrass."
Court Reverses Order That Barred Former Church Member from Saying Anything About Pastor
The order, entered under the Illinois Stalking No Contact Order Act, barred Chester Wilk from "communicating, publishing or communicating in any form any writing naming or regarding [Pastor Eric Flood], his family or any employee, staff or member of the congregation of South Park Church in Park Ridge."
Will Twitter Punish Users Who Tweet 'Learn to Code' at Laid-Off Journalists? Maybe.
"Twitter is responding to a targeted harassment campaign against specific individuals-a policy that's long been against the Twitter Rules."
The Media Wildly Mischaracterized That Video of Covington Catholic Students Confronting a Native American Veteran
Journalists who uncritically accepted Nathan Phillips' story got this completely wrong.
Verbal Harassment of Government Buildings Now Violates Twitter Rules, Apparently
Author and sex worker Maggie McNeill was suspended from Twitter Tuesday for a hyperbolic comment about burning the White House down.
Suit Against Grindr Over Harassment Is Part of a Trending Assault on Internet Freedom
On Monday, a federal appeals court considered Grindr's guilt in a case involving app-based impersonators.
New York City Wants to Make It Illegal to Send a Sexy Pic Without Affirmative Consent
It's been dubbed "NYC's Anti-Airdrop Dick Pic Law," but the bill is much broader than that.
Injunction Against "Harassing" Online Speech Struck Down on First Amendment Grounds
"We cannot adopt the trial court's preference to treat a [personal protection order], which in this case is a prior restraint on ... speech, as a means 'to help supplement the rules that we all live in society by.' The First Amendment ... demands that we not treat such speech-based injunctions so lightly."
"Little State Weasel" and the First Amendment
An interesting dissent from denial of review by Texas's high court for criminal cases.
Another "Stop Talking About Him" Court Order, This One Obtained by Convicted Securities Fraudster
Tracy Zona was ordered to "remove forthwith, all references to petitioner the family and legal representatives and make no further posting in re of any kind"; she was then ordered to spend five days in jail unless she removed the posts (which she did).
Cleveland City Councilman Got Order Requiring Two Citizen Critics to Stay 500 Feet Away from Him
Yet the order (narrowed on appeal to 50 feet, but still unconstitutional) seems to have been based on pretty normal -- if acrimonious -- local political debate. We're asking the Ohio Supreme Court to review the decision upholding it.
For #MeToo to Work, We Must Draw the Line Between Sexual Assault and Being a Jerk
Accusations against author Junot Diaz are pouring in, but not all allegations are equal.
N.Y. Set to Criminalize Much "Verbal" "Abuse" of Under-18-Year-Olds Online
The N.Y. Senate just unanimously passed a bill that would do that.
Crime in D.C. to Negligently Cause "Significant Mental Suffering" by Saying Two Non-Political Things About Someone
That's what D.C. stalking law, as interpreted by D.C. courts, calls for.
D.C. City Councilman Tried to Get Anti-Stalking Order Against Freelance Journalist
The councilman was Trayon "Rothschilds Control the Weather" White (or, if you prefer, Trayon "Nazi Stormtrooper Protectors" White).
Man Forbidden from Identifying Twitter Shaming Activist, Court Order Seems to Say
A First Amendment violation, I think, notwithstanding the court's concern about the anonymous Tweeter's privacy.
Another "Just Shut Up" Order, This One Involving Anti-Vax Activists
One activist is ordered "not [to] post photographs videos, or information about [the other] to any internet site."
Sign Referencing Civil War Hero Is Sexual Harassment, Says Massachusetts Lawmaker
Rep. Michelle DuBois wants to remove a statehouse sign that reads "General Hooker Entrance" because it is an affront to "women's dignity."
Happy Valentine's Day: Employers Worry About Sexual Emoji Harassment
Forbid the eggplants, but leave the winking faces alone, please.
Is Immortality Gendered?
Therapies that slow and even reverse aging will be a tremendous boon for both women and men.
Photographing Someone Being Arrested Doesn't Count as "Stalking"
Because "there is a First Amendment right to videotape police officers while they are conducting their official duties in public," that right applies even over the objections of the people being arrested by the officers.
Court Vacates Ban on "Memes" That Depict Local Community Activist
Richard Rynearson's online criticisms of Clarence Moriwaki, the court held, were protected by the First Amendment, and thus couldn't justify an antistalking order.
California Prosecuting Man for Insulting Posts on Islamic Center's Facebook Page
The government's theory would equally criminalize insulting posts on a NRA page, or on a pro-Trump organization's page, or on a Communist Party page.
'Degrading and Vile' Modification of Colleague's Wedding Photo Was Protected Speech
The New Jersey Supreme Court narrowly construes a ban on annoying conduct to avoid First Amendment problems.
Can Repeated Speech Be Criminalized Just Because It's Intended to "Seriously Annoy"?
No, says the New Jersey Supreme Court in an opinion that sharply limits the state criminal harassment statute.
Yale Held Transcript of Former Basketball Star in Title IX Lawsuit Hostage
Former student alleges the school screwed up its investigation.
Markets Deliver Social Justice Better Than Government Does
Elizabeth Nolan Brown argues in The New York Times that we can thank "feminism, but also free markets" for the ongoing purge of predatory men.