As I noted last year, a federal prosecutor indicted a man for his campaign of insulting Twitter messages about a Buddhist religious leader, and a federal judge then dismissed the indictment on First Amendment grounds. Some of the Twitter posts might have been seen as threatening, but the government’s theory wasn’t that they were threatening, […]
Archive | “Bullying” Bans
Crime to Insult a Minor Twice Online With Intent to Annoy?
That’s what would happen under a Monroe County (New York) bill, proposed by County Executive Maggie Brooks, County Legislature Vice President Michael G. Barker, and County Legislator Carmen F. Gumina. The bill reads, in relevant part (paragraph break added): [It shall be unlawful for a person] to … with intent to harass [or] annoy [a […]
Should Colleges Punish “Cyber-Bullying” by Their Students?
By Eugene Volokh on April 16, 2012 3:33 pm in "Bullying" Bans, Freedom of Speech at Colleges and Universities
So argue two lawyers in a recent Chronicle of Higher Education article, warning of legal liability if colleges don’t take suitable steps to suppress such speech. The article is short on definitions of cyber-bullying, but calls for colleges to update their “anti-bullying and social-media policies to take into account the immediate and significant harm that […]
Speech Urging an Employer to Fire an Employee
My post about the Minnesota trial court order forbidding a parent to urge a Catholic school to fire a gay teacher led to several commenters’ suggesting that such speech may indeed be restricted, at least if it consists of more than just one e-mail. Such speech, the theory is, may indeed constitute “harassment,” if it’s […]
Anti-“Harassment” Order Based on Letters to Employer Alleging a Catholic School Teacher Was Gay
I’m writing an article on the First Amendment, criminal harassment law, and the constitutional distinction between speech said to a particular objecting person and speech said to the public; and in the process, I ran across this 2001 case that I thought I’d mention, since it could equally come up today. Minnesota law provides, in […]
Revisions Planned for Arizona Ban on “Obscene, Lewd or Profane Language” Used Online “With Intent to … Offend”
As I noted last week, both houses of the Arizona legislature passed a bill that would say, It is unlawful for any person, with intent to[, among other things,] harass, annoy or offend, to use any electronic or digital device and use any obscene, lewd or profane language …. Many people criticized the bill, as […]
A Crime to Use “Any Electronic or Digital Device” “And Use Any Obscene, Lewd or Profane Language” “With Intent to … Offend”?
That’s what Arizona HB 2549, which was just passed by both houses (though not yet signed by the Governor) provides, in relevant part: It is unlawful for any person, with intent to terrify, intimidate, threaten, harass, annoy or offend, to use a telephone ANY ELECTRONIC OR DIGITAL DEVICE and use any obscene, lewd or profane […]
Proposed Connecticut “Cyber-Harassment” Law
The Raised Bill No. 456, sec. 2 would provide, in relevant part: (a) A person commits electronic harassment when such person, with intent to harass, annoy or alarm another person, transmits, posts, displays or disseminates, by or through an electronic communication device, radio, computer, Internet web site or similar means, to any person, a communication, […]
Article in High School Newspaper Criticizing Homosexuality = “Bullying”?
The Shawano High School newspaper decided to run dueling student opinion pieces on whether same-sex couples should be able to adopt children; the student article that answered the question “no” said, among other things, quotes Leviticus 20:13 (“If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both […]
Court Rejects Prosecution of Man for Writing Many Insulting Tweets and Blog Posts About Religious Leader
I blogged about this in August, but now there’s a District Court decision dismissing the indictment, United States v. Cassidy (D. Md. Dec. 15, 2011), and it strikes me as generally quite correct. Here is a rough summary of what seem to be the facts, from the original post: William Lawrence Cassidy is charged with […]
Four New York Democratic Senators: “Proponents of a More Refined First Amendment Argue That This Freedom Should Be Treated Not as a Right But as a Privilege”
The sentence reads, in a context that shows the authors agree with the argument: Proponents of a more refined First Amendment argue that this freedom should be treated not as a right but as a privilege — a special entitlement granted by the state on a conditional basis that can be revoked if it is […]
Federal Government Prosecuting Man for Writing Many Insulting Tweets and Blog Posts About Religious Leader
Somini Sengupta at the New York Times wrote today about this case, in which William Lawrence Cassidy is charged with violating the federal antistalking statute, 18 U.S.C. § 2261A by “with the intent to harass and cause substantial emotional distress to a person … us[ing] an interactive computer service … to engage in a course […]
“Respondent Is Prohibited from Posting Any Information/Comments … on Any Internet Site Regarding the Petitioner [the Mayor’s Sister] and … Her Immediate or Extended Family”
[UPDATE: The order has now been rescinded.] Johanna Hamrick runs the Berea Post blog, and had been candidate for mayor and city council president in Berea, Ohio. She had posted various things critical of Norma Kleem, the sister of the Berea mayor, and (among other things) Berea Commission on Aging member and, apparently, the organizer […]
City of Renton Drops Attempt to Prosecute Its Critic (and to Use a Search Warrant to Uncover His Identity)
I blogged about this case earlier under the headings “Is It a Crime to Publish Parody Videos That Use “Lewd … Language” Meant to “Embarrass and Emotionally Torment” Police Officers?” and “Search Warrant for Name of the Author of the Renton (Washington) Parody Videos Temporarily Stayed.” The news, reported last night by the Seattle Times, […]
Search Warrant for Name of the Author of the Renton (Washington) Parody Videos Temporarily Stayed
I blogged about this case last week (Is It a Crime to Publish Parody Videos That Use “Lewd … Language” Meant to “Embarrass and Emotionally Torment” Police Officers?); yesterday, the judge stayed the search warrant aimed at unmasking the author of the videos, pending a hearing on whether the search warrant should be quashed. [UPDATE: […]