First Amendment Attack

[flip]

Can posting a shocking image online land you in jail? This month Tennessee amended an anti-harassment law to make it a crime to “communicate with another person or transmit or display an image in a manner in which there is a reasonable expectation that the image will be viewed by the victim without legitimate purpose.” The law applies to any communications including posts to social networks or personal web pages which are essentially public forums. It covers not only posts “with the malicious intent to frighten, intimidate or cause emotional distress” but also to anything that the poster “knows, or reasonably should know, would frighten, intimidate or cause emotional distress to a similarly situated person of reasonable sensibilities.” But the law is so broad that covers not only specific cases of harassment but also anything anyone might find objectionable online.

Free Speech

To prove a crime has been committed simply requires that someone viewing a post claim they were “frightened, intimidated or emotionally distressed” by it. The negative implications for the First Amendment are obvious; one person’s legitimate political expression may be another person’s emotional hot button. And since a poster can break the law without even having malicious intent there is no practical limit to the type of “crimes” that could be committed. Whether a person makes a statement with a cartoon of Mohammed or pictures of the remains of aborted babies, someone is going to be offended. Some might find it repulsive, but it should not be a crime.

Heh, should I be scared? I'm not.

[Heretic]

How about a link to your quote.

[flip]

http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/rob ... amendment/

[Spidey]

Almost sounds like an overreaction to the Weiner thingy.

[Will Robinson]

TB watch out dude! They are gunning for you in Tennessee

[flip]

Tennessee must be crazy to write such a loose and open-ended law. It gives them a lot of leeway to interpretation.

[Jeff250]

Do I have to live in Tennessee or is it sufficient that the "victim" does?

[Heretic]

Don't do a search for images of hell.

[woodchip]

Since I find the law itself intimidating, can I file charges against the lawmakers who wrote it?

[null0010]

This is another one of those laws that's meant to be struck down so the lawmakers that proposed and voted for it can wring their hands and blame the opposite side for obstructing the will of the people and sadly mumble, "We tried..."

[flip]

Since I find the law itself intimidating, can I file charges against the lawmakers who wrote it?

Lol, exactly, perpetual motion law.

"We tried..."

Tried what?