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

[Darin Sunley]

Making powerful enemies (and your local cops are powerful, at least
locally) is a dangerous pastime, no matter what some "constitution" says.

Some people seem to have a very weird sense of entitlement about this.

On Wed, Oct 5, 2022 at 11:07 AM William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

>  saying that because some people didn’t get the
> joke, it violated the law.  bill k
>
>  I cannot believe that a judge (in this day and age, blah, blah, blah)
> would say such a thing.  Many art cases have been adjudicated, and the
> artist can satirize anything at all, period.  FREE SPEECH unless causing
> riots  bill w
>
>
> On Wed, Oct 5, 2022 at 11:51 AM BillK via extropy-chat <
> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
>
>> 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
>>
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