'The Onion' Files a Supreme Court Brief (nytimes.com) 75
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the New York Times: A man who was arrested over a Facebook parody aimed at his local police department is trying to take his case to the Supreme Court. He has sought help from an unlikely source, which filed a friend-of-the-court brief on Monday. "Americans can be put in jail for poking fun at the government?" the brief asked. "This was a surprise to America's Finest News Source and an uncomfortable learning experience for its editorial team." The source is, of course, The Onion. Or, as the satirical website described itselfin the brief (PDF),"the single most powerful and influential organization in human history."
The Parma, Ohio, area man in question, Anthony Novak, spent four days in jail over a Facebook page he created in 2016 that mocked his local police department. He was charged with using a computer to disrupt police functions, but a jury found him not guilty. Mr. Novak says his civil rights were violated, and he is trying to sue the city for damages. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit earlier this year, saying that the police had qualified immunity, and an appeals court upheld that decision. Now the high court is reviewing his request to take up the matter. One of Mr. Novak's lawyers, Patrick Jaicomo, said in an interview Monday that last month he contacted Jordan LaFlure, the managing editor of The Onion, which is based in Chicago, to make him aware of the case and see if he would be interested in helping raise attention. "They heard the story, and they were like, 'Oh my god, this is something that could really put all of our people in the crosshairs if we rub someone the wrong way with one of our stories,'" Mr. Jaicomo said. [...]
On Tuesday, a lawyer representing Parma, Richard Rezie, said that the courts had dismissed Mr. Novak's lawsuit as groundless and agreed that his rights had not been violated. The judges "did not base their opinions on parody, freedom of speech, or the need for a disclaimer," Mr. Rezie said, adding that Mr. Novak "went beyond mimicry" when he reproduced a police warning about his fake page, but claimed that the Parma site was the fake and his was the "official" page. "Falsely copying an official warning along with a claim to be the authentic Facebook page is not parody," Mr. Rezie said, adding that Mr. Novak also deleted comments from readers who realized his page was fake. In Mr. Jaicomo's view, The Onion's brief used parody itself to make the point that parody is important and protected speech. "The Onion cannot stand idly by in the face of a ruling that threatens to disembowel a form of rhetoric that has existed for millennia, that is particularly potent in the realm of political debate, and that, purely incidentally, forms the basis of The Onion's writers' paychecks," the brief said. It pointed to The Onion's history of blatantly ridiculous headlines: "Fall Canceled After 3 Billion Seasons." "Children, Creepy Middle-Aged Weirdos Swept Up in Harry Potter Craze." "Kitten Thinks of Nothing but Murder All Day." A footnote reads "See Mar-a-Lago Assistant Manager Wondering if Anyone Coming to Collect Nuclear Briefcase from Lost and Found, The Onion, Mar. 27, 2017."
The brief also said that the case posed a threat to The Onion's business model. "This was only the latest occasion on which the absurdity of actual events managed to eclipse what The Onion's staff could make up," it said. "Much more of this, and the front page of The Onion would be indistinguishable from The New York Times."
The Parma, Ohio, area man in question, Anthony Novak, spent four days in jail over a Facebook page he created in 2016 that mocked his local police department. He was charged with using a computer to disrupt police functions, but a jury found him not guilty. Mr. Novak says his civil rights were violated, and he is trying to sue the city for damages. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit earlier this year, saying that the police had qualified immunity, and an appeals court upheld that decision. Now the high court is reviewing his request to take up the matter. One of Mr. Novak's lawyers, Patrick Jaicomo, said in an interview Monday that last month he contacted Jordan LaFlure, the managing editor of The Onion, which is based in Chicago, to make him aware of the case and see if he would be interested in helping raise attention. "They heard the story, and they were like, 'Oh my god, this is something that could really put all of our people in the crosshairs if we rub someone the wrong way with one of our stories,'" Mr. Jaicomo said. [...]
On Tuesday, a lawyer representing Parma, Richard Rezie, said that the courts had dismissed Mr. Novak's lawsuit as groundless and agreed that his rights had not been violated. The judges "did not base their opinions on parody, freedom of speech, or the need for a disclaimer," Mr. Rezie said, adding that Mr. Novak "went beyond mimicry" when he reproduced a police warning about his fake page, but claimed that the Parma site was the fake and his was the "official" page. "Falsely copying an official warning along with a claim to be the authentic Facebook page is not parody," Mr. Rezie said, adding that Mr. Novak also deleted comments from readers who realized his page was fake. In Mr. Jaicomo's view, The Onion's brief used parody itself to make the point that parody is important and protected speech. "The Onion cannot stand idly by in the face of a ruling that threatens to disembowel a form of rhetoric that has existed for millennia, that is particularly potent in the realm of political debate, and that, purely incidentally, forms the basis of The Onion's writers' paychecks," the brief said. It pointed to The Onion's history of blatantly ridiculous headlines: "Fall Canceled After 3 Billion Seasons." "Children, Creepy Middle-Aged Weirdos Swept Up in Harry Potter Craze." "Kitten Thinks of Nothing but Murder All Day." A footnote reads "See Mar-a-Lago Assistant Manager Wondering if Anyone Coming to Collect Nuclear Briefcase from Lost and Found, The Onion, Mar. 27, 2017."
The brief also said that the case posed a threat to The Onion's business model. "This was only the latest occasion on which the absurdity of actual events managed to eclipse what The Onion's staff could make up," it said. "Much more of this, and the front page of The Onion would be indistinguishable from The New York Times."
qualified immunity (Score:4, Insightful)
Wondering how the cop apologists are going to justify how they have qualified immunity from the constitution, and of course they need it because it's such a dangerous job ...
Re: (Score:1)
I'm sure some boot stomper (licker) will come up with something.
Re: qualified immunity (Score:2, Insightful)
The intelligent person is capable of nuance. Nuance, in this case, is the ability to separate the abuse of a thing from the thing on its own merits. And the ability to refrain from equating the defense of a thing with the defense of the abuse of the thing.
Re:qualified immunity (Score:4, Insightful)
Wondering how the cop apologists are going to justify how they have qualified immunity from the constitution, and of course they need it because it's such a dangerous job ...
adding that Mr. Novak "went beyond mimicry" when he reproduced a police warning about his fake page, but claimed that the Parma site was the fake and his was the "official" page. "Falsely copying an official warning along with a claim to be the authentic Facebook page is not parody
I think this is a bit key. But it is a gray area and not the black and white example you claim. If the parody was clearly a parody then I agree with you. If the site in question was so close to the actual official site that it is difficult to tell the difference, then I am not. And no, I have no idea how you draw that line. Sort of how people want minorities treated equally but they don't think legalizing shoplifting is the right way to go about that. After all, minorities rely upon police services disproportionately which is why they don't support people like you. They want better police, you seem to not want police at all.
Re: (Score:1, Troll)
Thanks for posting that. There is a clear difference to a parody that people can identify as a parody within reason, verses directly misleading and confusing people to entice them to think it was real. That's a hostile action and should be treated as such.
You can't do something hostile to a public organization we depend on for emergencies then turn around and claim it was a parody, pursing your malicious intent now with suing them.
Re: (Score:3)
> You can't do something hostile to a public organization we depend on for emergencies then turn around and claim it was a parody, pursing your malicious intent now with suing them. ... you as well, really should read the case at hand, and The Onion's brief. This wasn't even close to the straw man you are trying to put up.
Re: (Score:1)
Did you even read the comment I responding to? Feeling fancy using strawman to try and discredit a point?
I just agreed with the posting above that was scored a 5, but you learned a new word, and probably used an alternative account to mod it.
Re:qualified immunity (Score:5, Interesting)
If the real site is not distinguishable from a parody, that says more about the police than it does about Novak.
Further, even if it does create confusion, a court order is the appropriate response, not carting him off to jail and pressing criminal charges (which, by the way, doesn't bring the page down).
Re: (Score:2)
If the real site is not distinguishable from a parody, that says more about the police than it does about Novak.
A web site I agree. A FB account, that's a bit more tricky. Is there a "blue check" analog on FB?
Further, even if it does create confusion, a court order is the appropriate response, not carting him off to jail and pressing criminal charges (which, by the way, doesn't bring the page down).
I don't disagree. But perhaps he was more motivated while in jail. Also, I think to the police view this like a swatter (making fake hostage calls) instead of media criticism. And they take swatters to jail but not media members (only judges can do that). So I can see their POV too. Finally, from an artistic viewpoint an exact copy of the police shield and title of the page seems to lack creativity. Shou
Re: (Score:2)
I'm not accusing Novak of being a comedic genius. Perhaps it was a bit lackluster, but missing an opportunity for creativity is not a crime.
Based on TFA, articles claiming that sex offenders were invited to become police officers and get rempved from the list (minorities need not apply) had BETTER be obviously a parody and not official police policy.
Swatting intrinsically includes making a false report TO the police, which is specifically called out as a criminal act. There is no law about making a false re
Re: (Score:3)
There is no law about making a false report ABOUT police.
Slander? Though not a criminal matter, it is still against the law.
Though admittedly, it is not likely to succeed in this case as he was trying for satire and not slander, some could believe the things he wrote.
Re: (Score:2)
The police, collectively, are public figures though.
Re: (Score:2)
If the real site is not distinguishable from a parody, that says more about the police than it does about Novak.
Not really. Do you expect an original to constantly change every time someone copies them? It's a complete fantasy that a "real site" is easily distinguishable. Phishing is a thing that exists and works remarkably well. In many cases sites actually need to be technically scrutinized, not something that Joe Average just looking at a webpage routinely does or in some cases even knows how to do.
Re: (Score:2)
There was no phishing here. There WAS parody. Perhaps not the most clever parody, but parody. Or do you think the pages inviting sex offenders to join the department and be purged from the registry was just a copy of the actual police pages?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
I think this is a bit key. But it is a gray area and not the black and white example you claim. If the parody was clearly a parody then I agree with you. If the site in question was so close to the actual official site that it is difficult to tell the difference, then I am not. And no, I have no idea how you draw that line.
you draw the "line" when morons cant tell what website url they are using.
.... "but they are both on facebook" and still cant tell the difference, THEY are the problem -- in both cases.
if those morons ponder
Re: (Score:3)
That's easy. The Constitution (specifically, the 1st, 5th, 6th, and 14th Amendments) says the government should err on the side of freedom of speech.
Why are we even discussing this?
Re: (Score:2)
Because the only amendment some parties in this story consider is the 2nd?
And even the 2nd is conditional: it has to be exercised by the "right" people (see: Mulford Act).
Re: (Score:1)
Content on the parody account, per the Onion brief:
Police are operating a roving abortion van for teens (with their own new technology).
Police will let you off for pedophilia if you play a quiz game.
Police are forbidding feeding the homeless specifically to starve them out of town. As in it actually says "starvation".
It doesn't fucking matter if every single logo and design element was exactly the same as the real police stuff. It doesn't matter if there was a "claim to be the authentic Facebook page" or
Re: (Score:2)
The really sad part is that all of those are actually believable, because the US legal system has:
The reason the parody account is believable is because the American legal system has, and does
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
It's an example of a going to an extreme, rather than passing policies which balance the interests of public safety and human rights.
Either extreme is problematic - allowing serious offenders to commit additional crimes while waiting their court date, and arbitrarily jailing people on the mere accusation of a crime result in societal problems. It used to be that judges would consider the financial ability of the accused, flight risk, and the risk of recidivism when setting bail, but apparently the polit
Re: (Score:2)
And if it isn't blatantly obvious that this is parody, the problem is not the parody...
Re: (Score:3)
You really ought to read The Onion's legal brief. They lay it out in no uncertain terms: Parody works by fooling you into thinking it could be from the target of the parody.
There is no line. There is always some gullible fool who won't get the joke, before or after it is explained to them.
Re: (Score:2)
The opinion, in no small part, turned on a rather spurious chain of circular reasoning wherein the officers' reliance on the warrants they had secured with their own representations was reasonable, even if they were were not backed by adequate probable cause.
They also took a very expansive view of what constitutes honest testi
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Posts like yours are the worst. You see, it's an assine way to try to make a point. Like I could call you some criminal apologist who wants to reduces peoples reactions to crime for self gain, the worst of the worst kind of people in a knee jerk reaction to what you said.
The reason your post is the worst, is I actually agree with what I suspect is why you're mad. It 100% looks like these cops bullied some guy for making fun of them and there should be consequences for it, and immunity shouldn't apply in all
Re: (Score:1)
By the fact that they aren't in a pine box or fertilizing daisies.
Usually people who violate the social contract seriously enough receive no protection from said contract when the time comes.
Shortly after, they no longer are able to engage in a contract of any sort...
Re: (Score:2)
Some qualified immunity is a requirement for the job, but not the overarching qualified immunity that they currently get, which is derived from the Supreme Court, not the Constitution.
For example, if they hurt someone while pursuing them - the assault and battery charge can be qualified immunity. Or if they tripped and fell and injured
Re: (Score:2)
How did we go from Cops are to be appreciated and respected to the joke/threat they are today?
slashdotsucks.com (Score:2)
Maybe not in this jurisdiction, but parody sites that utilize another sites name and likeness are protected, this was figured out over 20 years ago.
https://www.techdirt.com/2002/... [techdirt.com]
Re: (Score:1)
What if it's not clear it's a parody? Somebody can make fake news and pass it off as real news using a doctored image, and then claim it's "just parody" when caught.
"I didn't mean to incite a coup attempt, I was just parodying a dictator."
Re: (Score:2)
Somebody can make fake news and pass it off as real news using a doctored image, and then claim it's "just parody" when caught.
Perhaps like the Planned Parenthood Abortionplex [jezebel.com]?
Do you have any particular examples in mind of your "fake news" scenario?
Re: (Score:2)
You mean like Fox "News" having to go to court and claim it was just entertainment?
I intentionally do this often (Score:4, Interesting)
Wow this is interesting, I use computers as much as I can to disrupt the police.
Radar detector is a computer.
Waze telling me where speed traps are is a computer. (Me reporting their locations therein the hopes others avoid their fines is also that)
The AI neural network I'm training to spot police cars so that a high-powered Zoom watching the road and warns me of any police is also me attempting to use computers for that function.
The research I'm doing on new encryption algorithms is also specifically to keep the police out of people's business.
The patch I wrote for making a camera able to encrypt against a public key without the private key being on the camera was specifically so that people could travel into areas where police try to inspect cameras and take photos without any way for them to be decoded.
The fact that a computer cannot be used to Aid people with this supposed stupid law goes Way Beyond parody.
The vehicle tuning software I wrote is also able to be used for making cars faster than police cars.
I reserve the right to program devices to work in my interests. They can fuck right off and Ill go on making tools as I damn well please.
If they think they can restrict it I'll just release the computer code as a poem in published form and laugh as they cannot ban that. And then I'll write a run time that is able to run poems.
I will not be stopped until you put a bullet in my head.
Re: (Score:2)
Waze telling me where speed traps are is a computer.
Funny you mention this as the use of Waze telling you where speed traps are is in fact illegal in many countries so the app itself doesn't show radars in those countries.
I do agree the case is absurd, but your car analogy falls a bit flat.
Re: (Score:2)
And good for ya, mate. I'm a big supporter of police ... when they aren't being asinine, idiotic, fascists, Gestapo-like.
Qualified Immunity (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
The police dept as part of the government likely has sovereign immunity.
Re: (Score:2)
The police dept as part of the government likely has sovereign immunity.
no [donotpay.com]
Re: (Score:2)
https://www.ncsl.org/research/... [ncsl.org]
Reading is fundamental
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, what's fundamental is understanding that federal law beats state law. State laws about limiting liability apply to cases brought in state courts.
Re: (Score:2)
OK Perry Mason, you know better than the lawyers.
Re: (Score:2)
No, this arrest involved precisely zero officers in the field who had to make a split second decision. None.
There may be other arrests where split second decisions had to be made. This was not one of those.
Re: (Score:2)
Qualified immunity is applicable to individual officers, where the officer had no way to reasonably foresee a violation of civil rights in their actions (for example when making a split-second decision under duress in the field where their life or physical wellbeing is at immediate risk).
When the officers act with thoughtful premeditation to deprive a person of their civil rights, qualified immunity does not apply, which is how the courts should have found in this case. But, they didn't, because government
At least they're honest. (Score:4, Funny)
The Onion is at least honest about their bullshit news, unlike certain other news outlets.
Re: (Score:2)
Oh, come on... Slashdot isn't that bad!
Re: (Score:3)
The Onion is at least honest about their bullshit news, unlike certain other news outlets.
The onion is intentional parody... those other sites have become accidental parodies of themselves. Pretty big difference.
The value of satirical publications is not to be underestimated though, here in the UK the satirical publication Private Eye has broken a few major news stories most other papers were afraid to touch.
Re: (Score:1)
Maybe the Onion should change their slogan,
"The Onion, the most honest name in journalism"
This wouldn't be an issue (Score:2)
This wouldn't be an issue if the Parma cops hadn't driven all the way to California and mooned me for no good reason. I said, "yeah, I loved the Drew Carry Show and its theme, but this is absurd".
Maybe you think this post is absurd too. You'd get it if you weren't some hack like Johnathan Swift.
(Seriously, Read the brief, it's well worth it)
Lese-majeste (Score:2)
or LÃse-majesté, if your website supports more than a half-assed character set.
Wait. Is that a black van pulling up in front of my house? I'm sorry about that snarky encoding remark.
Re: (Score:2)
I am not sure if I can do any better, but
Lèse-majesté
or if that doesn't work
Le`se-majeste' with the accents above the previous letters.
Re: (Score:2)
Wow, that actually worked it looks like. I just copied and pasted the term from the header of the Wikipedia page about it using Windows and Chrome. Perhaps it is only an issue with Apple stuff ignoring the encoding requirements of the page.
Re: (Score:2)
Wow, that actually worked it looks like.
Slashdot supports extended ASCII, so most Latin letters with diacritics are supported if encoded correctly. An e with accent acute is UTF-8 0xC3A9. Extended ASCII 0xC3 is the capital A with the tilde diacritic and 0xA9 is the copyright symbol.
Perhaps it is only an issue with Apple stuff ignoring the encoding requirements of the page.
Yes.
Original? (Score:2)
There really should be some description in the summary of the actual post the guy was arrested for. It just says its a parody but doesn't mention the text or contents of the parody.
I'd at least like to know if it was a case of government retaliation vs a guy saying "I'm gonna burn down the police department!" and then claiming "It was just a prank bro!".
Given the involvement of The Onion I'd suspect the former but I still want to make that judgement myself.
Re: (Score:2)
Some links to the original posts would be good. The brief they filed with the Court suggests that the posts were satirical in nature. For the record, The Onion's brief is humorous, to the point of satirizing the whole case. It is worth the time to read.
In March 2016, Applicant Anthony Novak anonymously published a parody Facebook page poking fun at Respondent Parma, Ohio’s official police department page. On his page, which resembled the real page, Novak published six posts lambasting the department. One post, for example, stated that the department would be hiring new officers by asking 15 multiple-choice questions and administering a hearing test. The post noted, “Parma is an equal opportunity employer but is strongly encouraging minorities to not apply.” Other posts: prioritized a search for a black loitering suspect over a search for a white armed robbery suspect; threatened to arrest citizens who fed the homeless or let their children outside; advertised police giving “free abortions to teens using an experimental technique discovered by the Parma Police Department”; and announced a “Pedophile Reform event,” where any sex offender who could solve several puzzles and quizzes would be made an honorary Parma police office
how would this ever be a crime? (Score:2)
The Onion's brief was explicitly about protecting parody. But I have trouble seeing how copying a FB page under any circumstances rises to the level of being illigal. Was he making legal threats to arrest people? Asking people to use his page to report crimes? Pretending to be a police officer in any way?
The real police FB pages likley aren't administered by real police, and that would be even more likely for a stand alone web page.
Freedom (Score:1)
WHATSAPP +12269657180 TO GET NCLEX, TOEFL, IELTS, (Score:1)