[ExI] Americans can be put in jail for poking fun at the government? Really?

[Stuart LaForge]

Quoting BillK:

>
> The Onion Files Hilarious Amicus Brief In An Important Case, And
> Actually Makes A Key Point In The Best Way Possible
> Tue, Oct 4th 2022 10:45am - Mike Masnick
>
> <https://www.techdirt.com/2022/10/04/the-onion-files-hilarious-amicus-brief-in-an-important-case-that-actually-makes-a-key-point-in-the-best-way-possible/>
>
> Quote:
> The case goes back to 2016 when Parma, Ohio resident Anthony Novak
> (who enjoys writing comedy skits for fun) created a parody Facebook
> page for the Parma Police Department. It was pretty obviously a
> parody, talking about how the department ?strongly discourages
> minorities? from applying for jobs at the police department. It also
> offered ?free abortions? in a police van, and promoted a ?pedophile
> reform event.? In short, it was a parody page mocking the Parma
> Police.
>
> In response, the Parma police arrested Novak, claiming the parody page
> disrupted public services. Really. Novak spent four days in jail and
> then was tried but thankfully acquitted by a jury. Novak then sued the
> city of Parma for violating his civil rights. That case has bounced
> around the courts, but the rulings have not been great. The district
> court granted qualified immunity to the police. The 6th Circuit rolled
> that back in 2019 with what seemed like a good ruling at the time
> (with the court rightly noting ?The First Amendment does not depend on
> whether everyone is in on the joke.?)
>
> However, on remand, the lower court again decided that the cops get
> qualified immunity, saying that because some people didn?t get the
> joke, it violated the law.
>
> Novak has asked the Supreme Court to weigh in on whether or not a
> police officer is entitled to qualified immunity for arresting someone
> solely for speech parodying the government. It also asks the court to
> reconsider the entire doctrine of qualified immunity.
> --------------
>
> The Onion brief is quite funny in places, but it makes the point that
> satirical parodies depend on initially fooling people, then them
> realising it is a joke.
> The Supremes have not yet decided whether to take the case.
>
> BillK

Parodying the government is protected by the 1st amendment but  
impersonating the police is a felony in all 50 states. I am not sure  
whether there is enough of a difference between pretending to be a cop  
on a public highway and pretending to be a cop on Facebook.

https://www.newsweek.com/woman-pulled-over-fake-officer-noticed-something-off-before-calling-911-1695530

If we let "joking around" become a defense for pretending to be police  
officers and pulling young ladies over on lonely stretches of highway  
to frisk and detain them "for fun", then that could lead to a lot of  
problems. I think the guy in the article got lucky that the police  
didn't throw the book at him. I don't like cops but I like people who  
are not cops but pretend to be even less.

Stuart LaForge