Yes, the Renton (Wash.) city prosecutor’s office concludes, applying the Washington “cyberstalking” statute — an excellent example of the dangers of the broad “cyberbullying” and “harassment” statutes that I have often condemned. KIRO-TV reports: The Renton City Prosecutor wants to send a cartoonist to jail for mocking the police department in a series of animated […]
Archive | “Bullying” Bans
“Father Shall Take Down That Web Site and Shall Never on Any Public Media Make Any Reference to Mother At All,”
By Eugene Volokh on July 14, 2011 10:15 pm in "Bullying" Bans, Child Custody and Constitutional Law, Freedom of Speech
“nor any reference to the relationship between mother and children, nor shall he make any reference to his children other than ‘happy birthday’ or other significant school events.” That’s the text of a judge’s oral order in Morelli v. Morelli, No. A06-04-60750-C (Diane Gibbons, J., Bucks Cty., Pa. June 6, 2011). If the father says […]
“Harassment” Prosecution for Anti-Gay Speech About a Political Candidate?
[UPDATE, July 15, 2011: I’ve just gotten and posted a copy of the criminal complaint, which is consistent with the story quoted below. Note that the complaint does refer to the candidate as the “victim,” which suggests that the objection is to the supposed annoyance to the opposing candidate, not to the recipients of the […]
Possible Narrowing Construction for the Tennessee Ban on Posting Images that Cause “Emotional Distress” “Without Legitimate Purpose”?
I blogged about this issue last week — a quick Lexis query suggests this was the first site to discuss this, but I’m not positive — and I noticed lots of other sites linking to the post and discussing the same statute. Now the Daily Caller reports that a Tennessee legislator (or perhaps more than […]
Crime to Post Images That Cause “Emotional Distress” “Without Legitimate Purpose”
Friday, a Tennessee law was changed to provide (new material italicized): (a) A person commits an offense who intentionally: (4) Communicates with another person or transmits or displays an image in a manner in which there is a reasonable expectation that the image will be viewed by the victim by [by telephone, in writing or […]
Illegal to Speak Electronically to “Frighten, … Abuse, Harass, or Alarm” People “In Furtherance of Severe, Repeated, or Hostile Behavior”
The Arkansas Legislature has just passed, and sent for the governor’s signature, a bill that would make it misdemeanor “cyberbullying” to transmit[], send[], or post[] a communication by elect[r]onic means [including computers and telephones] with the purpose to frighten, coerce, intimidate, threaten, abuse, harass, or alarm another person … in furtherance of severe, repeated, or […]
Alleged Defamation of Estranged Wife Leads to Order Not to Talk About Her, Loss of Gun Rights; Court of Appeal Reverses
The case is In re Marriage of Mendlowitz. The alleged slanders were an e-mail and a letter to the estranged wife’s business associates that seemed likely to interfere with her business relationships. They might indeed have led to a successful defamation lawsuit, and a lawsuit for interference with business relations. But a trial court judge […]
Criticizing the Obama Administration for Obeying the Law?
Here is a strange piece in the Washington Times by editorial writer Kerry Picket criticizing the Department of Justice because it willl only investigate bullying cases if the victim is considered protected under the 1964 Civil Rights legislation. In essence, only discrimination against a victim’s race, sex, national origin, disability, or religion will be considered […]
Misdemeanor Plea in Case Involving Making Video of Yourself Supposedly Singing Sexually Themed Songs to Children (Who Actually Weren’t Present During the Singing)
I blogged last month about the original — and legally unsupported — felony charges for manufacturing child sexual abusive material in this case. According to the principal, [A] recent graduate (who contacted the teacher ahead of time) visited a first grade classroom and informed the teacher that he wanted to video himself singing to the […]
Outlawing “Repeated” Speech That “[C]auses … Emotional Harm” or “[C]reates a Hostile Environment”?
The East Greenwich, Rhode Island town council was apparently considering an “anti-bullying” ordinance that would have outlawed, among other things, “the repeated use” of any “expression” that “[c]auses … emotional harm to the victim” or “[c]reates a hostile environment for the victim.” The exact boundaries weren’t clear, since the draft was partly just given as […]
Illegal in New Hampshire to Repeatedly Use “Offensively Coarse Language” With the Purpose to Annoy
N.H. Stat. § 644-4 makes it a misdemeanor to, among other things, “[m]ake[] repeated communications at extremely inconvenient hours or in offensively coarse language with a purpose to annoy or alarm another.” In re Alex C. (N.H. Sup. Ct. Nov. 30) upheld the conviction of a minor for sending 20 instant messages in the span […]
NPR’s “On Point” on the Rutgers Suicide, Cyberbullying, and Internet Crime Law
I was on the NPR program “On Point” today discussing the Rutgers suicide and criminal liability for invasions of privacy online. You can listen to the program here; I come in at the 13-minute mark. Here’s the blurb about the program from the “On Point” homepage: Tyler Clementi was eighteen years old. He closed the […]
“Do You Think There Is Any Constitutional Way to Address Cyber-Harassment”?
A commenter asked me this question. Here’s my answer (reading “constitutional way to address” as referring to the use of criminal or civil liability): It all depends on what is meant by “cyber-harassment.” If “harassment” is used to mean repeated unwanted one-to-one contact, I think the answer is generally yes, so long as the law […]
Proposed “Cyber-Harassment” Bill in New Jersey
The Daily Record reports: Several days ago, three Ocean County legislators called for action on a bill introduced in both houses of the Legislature that would establish the crime of “cyber-harassment” in New Jersey. Assemblyman Brian E. Rumpf, Assemblywoman DiAnne C. Gove and Sen. Christopher J. Connors, all R-Ocean, would make any electronic communication that […]
“Respondent May NOT Use Internet in Any Manner to Communicate About Petitioner Ever Again”
That’s the order that a Wisconsin court issued in telling an ex-wife that she may not speak online about her ex-husband (emphasis in original). A similar order (though only for four years, and not “ever again”) was issued barring the ex-wife from speaking online about her ex-husband’s lawyer. The ex-wife apparently violated the order, and […]