Andy Samberg's reaction to Portrait of a Lady on Fire may be the best review of the film yet nytimes.com/2020/07/14/mov
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Dr. Mary Anne Franks
@ma_franks
Author, The Cult of the Constitution: Our Deadly Devotion to Guns and Free Speech . Law Professor . President .
Joined October 2013
Dr. Mary Anne Franks’s Tweets
"France is relocating women beaten by their partners into hotels, and has created a secret code word for them to discreetly seek help in pharmacies, in response to a huge increase in domestic abuse during the coronavirus lockdown." vice.com/en_us/article/
Critics of 's tax proposal "displayed their rank ignorance of how the federal income tax works. That’s the charitable explanation of their reaction. The only other explanation is that they know how it works, and they were lying"
Among the enraging aspects of this is how women's consensual sexual conduct continues to be judged so much more harshly than men's nonconsensual sexual conduct. It's not just that is leaving office; it's that men who have raped, battered, & harassed women aren't.
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It is with a broken heart that today I announce my resignation from Congress. This is the hardest thing I have ever had to do, but I believe it is the best thing for my constituents, my community, and our country.
See my official statement below.
If Congress is concerned about organizations profiting from dead children, it should be investigating the #NRA, not #PlannedParenthood
Gentle reminder that the First Amendment prevents the government from punishing individuals for speech. It doesn't give anyone the right to a particular platform, publisher, or audience; in fact, it protects the right of private entities to choose what they want to say or hear.
As says, “Women in leadership face more scrutiny," including being targeted for nonconsensual porn, both fake & real. That's why works for legislative & tech reform on these issues - everyone deserves equal protection online & off.
I'll have more to say later about the Supreme Court argument in Counterman that just concluded, but a couple of moments that stand out: 1. Male Justices reading out messages sent to the stalking victim, joking & laughing about how they've said or been told similar things.
What is truly beyond satire is a person with a law degree calling a private entity's choice to enforce its own terms and services "censorship," especially given that Twitter added, not removed, speech.
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Beyond satire.
Twitter is literally censoring the President of the United States for saying that violent anarchists will not be allowed to take over our nation’s capital & that law enforcement will act to protect public safety.
In Big Tech’s Orwellian world, that’s “abusive.” twitter.com/Safety/status/…
Yes. This is why people who actually understand the law say that this case should have never gone anywhere: those sentences in the op-ed were objectively true.
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1. The longer you look at it, the weirder the jury's verdict in the Depp-Heard case looks - even if you assume Heard lied constantly. The sentences from her op-ed that were at issue were phrased so carefully and vaguely that it's hard to see how a jury found them defamatory.
Rush Limbaugh complains that "the Left" treats nonconsensual sex as rape mediamatters.org/video/2016/10/ #TrumpsAmerica
"This verdict will further embolden abusers to use the law to coerce, control and silence vulnerable individuals."
"The even-tempered and dignified judicial persona that Kavanaugh has worked so hard to cultivate fell away to reveal a sneering and volatile boy with his arms crossed, furious not to be getting his way."
The fact that some people believe that a private company's decision to remove nonconsensual pornography from its platform violates the First Amendment is a truly depressing indictment of both constitutional literacy and basic ethics.
"Footage shows Mamoudou Gassama, a Malian immigrant, climbing up to a fourth-floor balcony to bring the child to safety"
"they're not going to stop until she dies"
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I’ve never seen this before and it makes the hounding of them by the British tabloids even more grotesque
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"I'm going to shut down an entire social media platform because it suggested that my false claims needed correction" is, among other things, the ultimate snowflake move.
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4. Exhaustive references to the supposed chilling effect of stalking statutes that focus on objective intent, but not a single reference to the chilling effect on victims of stalking.
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The overall impression was that the Court views the well-documented and severe physical, associational, and expressive harms to victims of stalking as simply trivial compared to the speculative risk that some speakers may hesitate to engage in objectively threatening speech.
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The Court's newfound skepticism about the reasonable person standard is ... something, especially given how comfortable they are with its use in vast areas of the law, including in determining whether cops can make pretextual stops without violating the 4th Amendment
It is sad that it is necessary, but this debunking of First Amendment misinformation from is a true public service
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it's sad that Raskin has to explain the 1st Amendment to Republicans like this
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2. A Justice warning that the reasonable person standard is unworkable because people are so much more sensitive these days.
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There is no constitutional right to post nonconsensual pornography, and (shocking that this needs to be said) there is certainly no constitutional obligation to do so. It is a literally a crime in most US states.
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3. Another Justice offering an example of this hyper-sensitivity in the form of a hypothetical black student feeling personally physically threatened by a history lesson about lynching.
Oh, how embarrassing for you, Mr. Epstein, Joe, kiddo twitter.com/davidgura/stat
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5. Zero empirical evidence offered of said chilling effect of the objective intent standard in stalking statutes.
Your semi-regular reminder that Twitter is not now nor has ever been synonymous with "free speech." It's not a public square, it's not a town hall, it's a corporate-owned property that is designed to exploit people's free labor for profit.
Forget the oddities of the Nestor story for a moment, and focus on the fact that Matt Gaetz says that being challenged by Rep. Richmond, a black man, “made me want to get up and rip his head off.”
Breaking: Minnesota Supreme Court unanimously upholds state's nonconsensual pornography law against First Amendment challenge. Like Vermont & Illinois before it, MN recognizes that "revenge porn" is not protected free speech. mncourts.gov/mncourtsgov/me
Wikipedia has a women problem: harvardlawreview.org/2018/03/justic
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Yep. Wikipedia is a genuine huge barrier to women in public—most people’s first impression of someone is a Wikipedia page. Women are edited harshly, not contributed to, overlooked or deleted. You can help out by editing, adding and pushing back as much as possible. twitter.com/jmissig/status…
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The reasonableness standard also governs self-defense law, a point we highlighted in our amicus brief, along with the potential consequences of requiring a higher legal standard for stalking convictions than for the use of deadly force. supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/22/2
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Women are officially second-class citizens, according to the majority of the Supreme Court.
Gist of the Counterman decision: the Supreme Court has just decreed that stalking is free speech protected by the First Amendment if the stalker genuinely believes his actions are non-threatening. That is, the more deluded the stalker, the more protected the stalking.
"as my final act, I voted to move forward with the impeachment of Donald Trump on behalf of the women of the United States of America. We will not stand down, we will not be broken, we will not be silenced...I yield the balance of my time for now, but not forever."
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6. No acknowledgement of the tension between the petitioner's claim that the objective intent standard chills speech, but also that adopting the subjective intent standard wouldn't change the outcome of most cases.
If we want to talk about who hates America, look no further than those who are demanding that lawfully cast votes not be counted in an election.
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#BREAKING: Large, animated crush of “stop the count” protestors trying to push their way into TCF hall in #Detroit where ballots are being counted.
They’re being blocked by guards at the door.
Pizza boxes are pushed against the window to obstruct view. It’s tense. @NBCNews
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Historic moment! US House of Representatives just passed the 2021 Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, including the #SHIELDAct amendment to prohibit nonconsensual pornography! We are one step closer to criminalizing this egregious form of abuse. #VAWA21
I am thrilled to announce that I will be joining the George Washington Law faculty as the inaugural Eugene L. and Barbara A. Bernard Professor in Intellectual Property, Technology, and Civil Rights Law this fall! t.e2ma.net/webview/atlvxj
Daisy Coleman's mother: "I think she had to make it seem like I could live without her. I can’t. I wish I could have taken the pain from her! She never recovered from what those boys did to her and it’s just not fair. My baby girl is gone." people.com/crime/daisy-co
In the tech industry, "the ability to neatly reject a man’s advances without injuring his ego" is an important skill theatlantic.com/magazine/archi
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Page 53-54, Justice Roberts reading out (of context) some of the thousands of messages that Counterman sent to the victim, to laughter:
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And she wept, for there were no more worlds to conquer
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Well composed shelf setup. Love the book stand. Animal friends. Nice twigs. 10/10 @ma_franks
For those suspicious of the newfound hostility of powerful elites to Section 230, but who are interested in discussions of the real problems with the law and possibilities for meaningful reform of the tech industry, here is a thread of some of my recent work on the subject.
Mourning the death of Egyptian doctor, writer, and feminist Nawal El Saadawi, a true free speech - and fearless speech - hero.
"They said, 'You are a savage and dangerous woman.'
'I am speaking the truth. And the truth is savage and dangerous.'"
bbc.com/news/world-mid
1. The result in this case is truly obscene. A teenage girl is the victim of nonconsensual pornography, but she is the one charged & punished – for child pornography of herself. slate.com/technology/201
Everyone is entitled to intimate privacy, from the powerful to the powerless. asks the right question at a truly vulnerable moment: "If in my position I can’t stand up to this kind of extortion, how many people can?" medium.com/@jeffreypbezos
This, by the way, is an actual example of "stifling free speech."
It's not just the Women's March photos: the government is destroying national records on everything from the sexual abuse of children to presidential records to the safety of drinking water. #censorship nytimes.com/2020/02/04/opi
Twitter has just flagged Trump's tweet containing a threat to shoot protesters for violating its rules against glorifying violence, but has left the content of the tweet accessible on the grounds of public interest.
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Page 65, Justice Gorsuch expressing concern about the reasonable person standard means in a world in which people are "increasingly sensitive"
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Pages 80-82, Justice Barrett also expressing her concern about increased sensitivity, using the hypothetical example of a "black college student" who might interpret a college lecture about lynching as a physical threat:
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As a private entity, Twitter is free to delete anything it likes, especially if that speech violates its policies. Exempting powerful people from the rules isn't "free speech," it's elitism.
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CNN just covered Twitter's correct refusal to delete the tweets. No discussion of the free speech implications. Donie O'Sullivan just said it is about Twitter appeasing the President and Brian Stelter agreed this is only about appeasement. Not free speech.
jonathanturley.org/2020/05/25/mik
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Page 72, Justice Thomas also expressing doubts about the reasonable person standard because "we're more hypersensitive now"
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Transcript is now available at supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments. Here are some portions I referred to above:
When armed men storm a government building demanding that lawmakers give in to their demands, that's not "protest." That's terrorism.
So when demonstrators block traffic to protest police killings of unarmed black people, conservatives advocate shooting and running them down, but when white Trump supporters block traffic to intimidate voters, it's patriotism? nytimes.com/2020/11/01/us/
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The court's ruling today is truly perverse, for all the reasons that sets out in this thread. This doesn't protect "free speech" - it protects abusers, rapists, hackers, revenge porn traffickers, & self-appointed journalists who target famous or influential women.
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Replying to @cagoldberglaw
Dismissing Katie Hill’s case on ANTI-SLAPP grounds sets a dangerous precedent for victims of nonconsensual pornography everywhere. Anybody who dares enter the public eye should now have legitimate concern that old nude and sexual images can be shared 3/
One of the many terrible effects of nonconsensual pornography is how it can be used to drive women out of politics.
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NEWS: Rep. Katie Hill resigning after allegations of improper relationships with staffers.
Story W @BresPolitico
politico.com/news/2019/10/2
#CatPerson author interview: "it speaks to the way that many women, especially young women, move through the world: not making people angry, taking responsibility for other people’s emotions, working extremely hard to keep everyone around them happy."
Supreme Court denies cert in Austin v. Illinois, letting stand IL Supreme Court’s determination that the state’s nonconsensual pornography law (which I helped draft & is the strongest in the nation) is consistent with the First Amendment. supremecourt.gov/orders/courtor
Laura was an extraordinary human being. I hope that her incredible empathy and courage will be remembered, and emulated.
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FBI Special Agent Laura Schwartzenberger, 43, lived in Coral Springs was a longtime investigator who specialized in child porn cases. sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/
"black fathers are more likely to feed, bathe, diaper, dress and play with their children on a daily basis than their white and Hispanic counterparts"
Wait A MINUTE. This would be Matt Gaetz, who, as a Florida state representative in 2013, tried to gut that state's revenge porn bill by filing last-minute amendments restricting it to material taken (not posted) without consent & only if not removed in 48 hours after warning
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Fact Check: False
I’m loudly on the right side of the Revenge Porn issue...unlike virtually every Democrat in Congress.
Ask revenge porn victim @katiehill4ca
Now that you mention it, why hasn’t @joebiden defended Katie Hill yet?
Silence is misogyny if you ask me... twitter.com/John_Henson/st…
Rev. Mariann Budde denounces Trump for tear gassing protesters and using "one of our churches as a prop, holding a Bible, one that declares that God is love and when everything he has said and done is to enflame violence." washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/06
Proud to have signed this letter, appalled that it had to be written. nytimes.com/interactive/20 #Kavanaugh
The president of the United States is calling for the extrajudicial killings of Americans.
"It will have a devastating effect on survivors, who will be silenced, now, with the knowledge that they cannot speak about their violent experiences at men’s hands without the threat of a ruinous libel suit. In that sense, women’s speech just became a lot less free." twitter.com/MoiraDonegan/s
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How mutual that feeling is!
We should all question why men with a history of assaulting women should be allowed to own weapons, especially given how many mass shooters have such history. washingtonpost.com/nation/2018/11 #MisogynyKills
PSA #1 to professors moving to online instruction: far-right activists are encouraging students to record & share videos of teachers to document supposed liberal "indoctrination." Be v careful not to inadvertently reveal any personal info in Zoom, etc- these people are vicious.
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The claim that the First Amendment forces private companies to publish revenge porn cannot be taken seriously, however much it will be embraced by perverts and grifters.
There's a reason why the conservative-dominated Supreme Court thinks the Constitution does not contain a right to an abortion but is convinced that it contains an individual right to posses firearms, and that reason is white male supremacy.
The text of the order is available now. It's exactly as opportunistic, constitutionally illiterate, Orwellian, and deliberately designed to distract from Trump's atrocities as one might expect. whitehouse.gov/presidential-a
If you care about image-based sexual abuse (aka nonconsensual pornography/revenge porn), contact NOW to ask him to include the bipartisan SHIELD Act (Stopping Harmful Image Exploitation and Limiting Distribution Act) in the omnibus. mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.c
When an outlet declines to publish your work, that's called rejection, not censorship.
Exciting intimate privacy news: House Rules Committee just made in order & 's SHIELD Act amendment to the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act. House votes TOMORROW on SHIELD + final passage of #VAWA21
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2. The teenager in this case consensually sent a sexually explicit video of herself to two friends. One of them distributed the video without her consent. Her consensual act was punished while the friend's nonconsensual act is not. This is absurd and unjust.
"To harden oneself against the cries of children is no simple task. It requires a coldness to suffering that will not be easily thawed...People who would do this to children would do anything to anyone. Before this is over, they will be called to do worse" theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/
It is a true indictment of our country's selective constitutional illiteracy that there are people who think a social media company fact-checking the President is a violation of free speech but arresting a person for peaceful protest is not
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It appears that this woman was forcibly arrested and removed not for breaking any law, but simply for the words on her shirt - that is, for engaging in free speech. twitter.com/donmoyn/status…
"Don't take pics" is not the answer to nonconsensual porn any more than "don't have sex" is the answer to rape.
The more excluded people feel, the more susceptible they are to #conspiracy theories scientificamerican.com/article/conspi
Truly honored to be named the Michael R. Klein Distinguished Scholar Chair by ! law.miami.edu/news/2021/may/
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Given that the Court has imposed a higher standard for state intervention against stalking than is used to lawfully justify the use of deadly force, it would seem that stalking victims are better off relying on lethal self-defense than law enforcement for protection.
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Private companies who choose not to allow nonconsensual pornography on their platforms are not violating the First Amendment - in fact, they are exercising their First Amendment rights. Freedom of speech and association includes the right not to speak and not to associate.
Also a story about gender bias & dosage: women were largely excluded from vaccine trials until the 1990s, & even today's COVID vaccine trials "did not test whether lower doses might be just as effective for women but cause fewer side effects."
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Women Report Worse Side Effects After a Covid Vaccine, perhaps due to more robust immune responses (which also help explain why 80 percent of autoimmune diseases afflict women) nytimes.com/2021/03/08/hea
"Sheena Greitens said her ex-husband admitted to her that he had, in fact, taken a compromising photo of his hairstylist that led to the felony invasion of privacy charge." apnews.com/article/2022-m
"It is a bit odd to see the right simultaneously say men are so virtuous that calling them out for bad sexual behavior is a witch hunt, but also so bad that every woman should have a gun to shoot them if she needs to." harpersbazaar.com/culture/politi #EndTheNRA
Interesting move by : it will no longer promote Trump's account within the app because, per the CEO, "we simply cannot promote accounts in America that are linked to people who incite racial violence, whether they do so on or off our platform."
"Not only will it breed a generation of Americans indoctrinated by ignorance; it will deny them the analytical skills to understand the complex history of this experimental democracy, as well as the historical grounding to sustain it." -
"Wall Street and its allies 'are more afraid of [Warren] than Bernie ... because when she says she’ll change the rules, she’s the one who knows how to do it.'” nytimes.com/2019/06/17/mag
If the famed "Chicago Statement" free speech principles don't mean the university will stand up to performatively hypersensitive grifters viciously harassing instructors & calling for the literal cancellation of classes they object to, what good are they?
"Right now, every battered woman in the world is watching this media circus, internalizing the message that when they come forward for help, when they break the cycle, they will be called a gold digger, a cheater, and be accused of having faked it all for attention."
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Wow. I’ve only just come across this piece by IO Tillett Wright, Amber’s friend who called 911 that night, from 2016:
“I called 911 because she never would. Because every time it happened, her first thought was about protecting him.”
refinery29.com/en-us/2016/06/
"I am here today to acknowledge their stories, to say they matter, to say their names, because I can, and I was asked to be." 11-year-old Naomi Wadler, lifting up the black women and girls whose deaths do not make the headlines.
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11-year-old Naomi Wadler has more poise and power than most adults you’ve ever met #MarchForOurLives
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