Author, Fearless Speech @BoldTypeBooks (2024) & Cult of the Constitution @stanfordpress (2019) Law Professor @GWLaw. President @CCRInitiative.
Oct 25 • 12 tweets • 3 min read
🧵In all sincerity, I am delighted to finally see a critical take on my book by someone who has actually read it and which doesn't involve threats of violence, racial slurs, or comments about my shoes. So thank you, @JMchangama, for that!
That being said, the critique you offer is only interesting if I had in fact claimed that the First Amendment "only" protects the powerful. But I do not claim this. In fact, I note several cases & principles that are notable for protecting vulnerable & dissenting individuals.
Apr 19, 2023 • 14 tweets • 4 min read
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.
2. A Justice warning that the reasonable person standard is unworkable because people are so much more sensitive these days.
Dec 3, 2022 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
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.
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.
Apr 19, 2021 • 9 tweets • 4 min read
Mississippi becomes 48th state to pass legislation criminalizing nonconsensual pornography. Remaining states with no law are Massachusetts and South Carolina. @CCRInitiativebillstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2021/pdf/histo…
Unfortunately, like far too many others, Mississippi's law is restricted to perpetrators who acted with the intent to harm the victim. That means people who distribute private, intimate imagery for any other reason - voyeurism, profit, entertainment, etc -can do so with impunity.
Apr 17, 2021 • 7 tweets • 5 min read
It's admirable that @NickKristof & @nytimes are bringing attention to nonconsensual pornography & image-based sexual abuse, but the article missed an opportunity to highlight the work of experts & advocates who've been in this space for years. nytimes.com/2021/04/16/opi…
There's no mention of @CCRInitiative, founded by survivor @HoLLyCCRi, which has been at the front lines of every major legislative & tech policy reform effort on nonconsensual porn in the U.S, nor of groundbreaking attorneys like @cagoldberglaw, @elisadamico, or @ericajstone.
Dec 30, 2020 • 4 tweets • 3 min read
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…@CCRInitiative@MiamiLawSchool
It was an honor to work with @johnlesch to draft Minnesota's law, & it is gratifying to see the state's highest court citing @CCRInitiative's amicus brief & the arguments I & others have been making for years (for example in my 2017 @FloridaLawRev piece scholarship.law.ufl.edu/cgi/viewconten…)
Nov 17, 2020 • 14 tweets • 3 min read
Some thoughts on Senator @JohnCornyn's question during Senate Judiciary #BigTech hearing this morning about why Twitter doesn't apply the Brandeisian principle of "best answer to bad speech is more speech."
1. THE FIRST AMENDMENT BINDS THE GOVERNMENT, NOT PRIVATE ENTITIES. Brandeis's quote comes from the 1927 Supreme Court case Whitney v California, which dealt with the criminal conviction of Anita Whitney for speech advocating gender and racial equality.
Jul 21, 2020 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Men like Roy Den Hollander are why I use the term "white male supremacy," and not just "white supremacy," in my book The Cult of the Constitution. These men's murderous, cowardly rage cannot be understood - or addressed - without recognizing its roots in both misogyny and racism.
His rantings typify what I call "victim-claiming," a tactic abusers use to cast themselves in the role of the vulnerable. This tactic is almost inevitably deployed to justify violence against the victim-claimer's supposed oppressors.
May 28, 2020 • 14 tweets • 7 min read
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.
My 2020 @OhioStateTechLJ Distinguished Lecture on the State of Internet Law, "How the Internet Unmakes Law" moritzlaw.osu.edu/ostlj/2020/04/…
May 17, 2020 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
It is horrific enough that the person who murdered Lauren McCluskey first blackmailed her with nude photos. It is even more appalling that the police officer she went to for help used those photos for his own sexual entertainment. @CCRInitiative
I worked with Utah legislators on their nonconsensual pornography bill in 2014 & was sorry that the final version required an intent to cause emotional distress/harm to the victim. Cases like this, when the motive is voyeurism/bragging, show why such a requirement is misguided.
