Just introduced today by Delegate Mark Keam: If any person, with the intent to coerce, intimidate, or harass any person, … uses a computer, including an electronic communication device, or computer network to … engage in bullying, as defined in § 22.1-276.01, he is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. [§ 22.1-276.01:] “Bullying” means any […]
Archive | “Bullying” Bans
The Crime of “Annoy[ing]” Local Governments Through “Offensively Repetitious” Threats of Litigation
From Tennessee House Bill 540, which has been recommended for passage by the House Local Government Committee: A person commits an offense who intentionally, without or prior to the filing of a [lawsuit] … communicates, in writing or by electronic communication, with a local government unit or local public servant in an offensively repetitious manner […]
Would New Jersey Bill Criminalize the Speech in Hustler v. Falwell?
I’m sure the legislatures aren’t thinking of the bill this way, but it might well be what this bill — which cleared one New Jersey Senate committee by a 5-0 vote this summer, and which unanimously passed another committee today — would do. The bill provides, in relevant part, 1. a. A person commits the […]
The Colorado Recalls Explained
By David Kopel on September 11, 2013 3:16 am in "Bullying" Bans, Constitutional Law, Fifth Amendment, Fourteenth Amendment, Guns, Libertarianism, Popular Constitutionalism
Yesterday voters in Colorado recalled two State Senators. One result was not a surprise, and the other is a shock. Of course the votes are Second Amendment victories for the right to arms, but more fundamentally, they are Fourteenth Amendment victories for Due Process of Law. Former State Senate President John Morse represented Colorado Springs, […]
Crime to “Disparag[e]” an Under-18-Year-Old “With Intent to Harass”?
That’s what Pennsylvania HB1163, which passed the Judiciary Committee by a 25-0 vote in May, would provide: (1) A person commits the crime of cyber harassment of a child if, by means of an electronic communication and with intent to harass a child, he repeatedly communicates or, on at least one occasion, makes available to […]
NY appellate court rules 5-0 against Bloomberg soda ban
By David Kopel on July 30, 2013 2:02 pm in "Bullying" Bans, Administrative Law, Constitutional Law, Executive Branch, Food and Drink, Growth of Government, Health Care, New Class, Paternalism, Separation of Powers
The First Department of the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court has ruled 5-0 against NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s soda ban, in the case of In re New York Statewide Coalition of Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, et al. v. The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, et al. (The Hispanic […]
Court Orders Father to Stop Publicizing Complaints About the Guardian Ad Litem in His Child Custody Case
Fortunately, the New Mexico Court of Appeals has reversed this order — at least unless and until the trial court finds that the material was libelous, something the trial court had not so far done — in Kimbrell v. Kimbrell (N.M. Ct. App. Mar. 13, 2013, though just put on Westlaw in the last day […]
Removing High School Student from Class for Saying “I Don’t Accept Gays” Violates First Amendment
So holds yesterday’s decision in Glowacki v. Howell Public School Dist. (E.D. Mich. June 19, 2013): Members of the Howell High School Gay Straight Alliance wanted to participate in a national campaign aimed at raising awareness of the bullying of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered youth on October 20, 2010. As such, the student group […]
Crime to Post “Indecent” Speech “About a Person” with “Purpose to Harass”?
The bill is what New Jersey Senate Bill 2469, introduced by Senator Donald Norcross (who is the Assistant Majority Leader) and Senator Nicholas Sacco, would provide: A person commits the crime of cyber-harassment if, while making a communication in an online capacity via any electronic device or through a social networking site and with the […]
Ban on Behavior that “Emotionally Abuse[s]” or “Is Likely to Create an … Offensive Environment” and “Which Serves No Legitimate Purpose” + Liability for Parents Who “Allow[]” Such Speech
That’s what a new ordinance from Monona, Wisconsin provides (as posted on the amusingly named MyMonona.com): (a) … Bullying is a form of harassment and is defined as an intentional course of conduct which is reasonably likely to intimidate, emotionally abuse, slander, threaten or intimidate another person and which serves no legitimate purpose. “Course of […]
Minnesota Bill to Ban K-12 Speech That Denies Fellow Students a “Supportive Environment”
That’s H.F. No. 826, which requires schools — including private schools that get any “public funds or other public resources” — to ban, among other things, “bullying” at school, defined as use of one or a series of words, images, or actions, transmitted directly or indirectly between individuals or through technology, that a reasonable person […]
A New Civility Standard
Prof. Brian Leiter is apparently grossly offended that an attorney sent him an email stating “You’re a ‘Law and ______’ Professor, not a lawyer. How would you know how to ‘think like a lawyer’?” Leiter not only sent his correspondent a pointed lengthy response criticizing his “impertinent,” “juvenile,” and “insolent” email, but added at the […]
Crime to Create a “Hostile Environment” That “Substantially Interferes” with Person’s “Psychological Well-Being” Based on Race, Religion, Sex, Etc.?
That’s what this New Mexico bill would provide: BULLYING.– A. Bullying consists of a pattern of intentional conduct, including physical, verbal, written or electronic communication, that creates a hostile environment and substantially interferes with another person’s physical or psychological well-being and that is: (1) motivated by an actual or perceived personal characteristic, including race, national […]
Now There’s a Speech Restriction for You
A new Vernon County, Wisconsin ordinance provides a $50 to $500 fine — or, if the fine isn’t paid, up to 30 days in jail — for send[ing] information to another person by electronic means with the intent to annoy, offend, demean, ridicule, degrade, belittle, disparage, or humiliate any person if the information “serves no […]
Crime for Student to Post Image of Teacher (or Principal) “With Intent to … Torment”
That’s what’s provided by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-458.2, which will go into effect in North Carolina this coming Dec. 1. The law also bans discussing school employees’ sex lives online “with intent to … torment,” posting other “personal … information” about them with such an intent, and posting “an unauthorized copy of any data […]