Civil Rights Law & Policy Blog

U.K. criminalizes revenge porn

WSJ's Lisa Fleisher reports...

'Revenge Porn,' State Law, and Free Speech

The title of this post comes from this recent paper from Paul J. Jenkins arguing that criminal liability can be imposed for revenge porn so as not to violate the First Amendment.

For most of our history, only celebrities — presidents, movie stars, professional athletes, and the like — were at risk of having their everyday exploits and activities photographed and shown to the world. But that day is gone. Today, we all face the risk of being made into a celebrity due to the ubiquity of camera-equipped cell phones and the ease of uploading photographs or videos onto the Internet. But a particularly troubling aspect of this phenomenon goes by the name of "revenge porn" — that is, the Internet posting of photographs of naked former wives and girlfriends, sometimes in intimate positions or activities. Revenge porn is an example of malicious conduct that injures the welfare of someone who mistakenly trusted an intimate partner. Tort law traditionally has allowed parties to recover damages for such violations of privacy, and criminal law also can prohibit such conduct, but there are several First Amendment defenses that the responsible parties can assert to fend off liability. This article argues that allowing a victim of revenge porn to recover damages for publication that breaches an implicit promise of confidentiality is faithful to tort and criminal law principles and will not punish or chill the legitimate expression of free speech.

Arizona asks federal judge to dismiss ACLU claim that state's revenge porn law violates First Amendment

The Arizona Capitol Times's Howard Fischer reports:

Assistant Attorney General David Weinzweig is arguing there is no legal basis for the lawsuit. He said the state is looking at a series of defenses, including that no one has been charged with breaking the law or is even being threatened.

 

Weinzweig also told U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton there are other legal problems with the claim filed last month by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of bookstores. That includes his contention that the lawsuit is about a purely political issue and seeks to involve the courts “in areas of government reserved to the legislative and executive branches.”

 

But ACLU attorney Lee Rowland said it’s not necessary for a bookstore owner, photographer, librarian or newspaper publisher to get arrested to challenge the law. And she brushed aside Weinzweig’s contention that the question is strictly political and beyond the reach of the courts.

 

“This is a First Amendment case,” Rowland said. “This is fundamentally about constitutional rights and whether or not our plaintiffs’ rights are being violated by this broad law. That is emphatically a question for the courts.” 

 

[...]

 

The law approved earlier this year makes it a felony to “intentionally disclose, display, distribute, publish, advertise or offer” a photo, video, film or digital recording of someone else who is naked “if the person knows or should have known that the depicted person has not consented to the disclosure.” The legislation covers not just images of nudity but also anyone engaged in any sex act.

 

Offenders could end up in prison for up to 2 1/2 years — or 3 3/4 years if the person is recognizable.

Jerry Brown does good

Last week, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation strengthing the state's existing revenge porn laws. SacBee's David Siders:

Existing law makes it a misdemeanor to post private, graphic pictures or footage of someone online with the intention of humiliating them.

 

Senate Bill 1255, by Sen. Anthony Cannella, R-Ceres, expands the prohibition to include sexually explicit images that are meant to be private, regardless who created the image.

 

Cannella’s office called the bill the “Revenge Porn 2.0 Act.”

"Race To Stop 'Revenge Porn' Raises Free Speech Worries"

The title of this post comes from this NPR article describing the concerns of some free speech advocates that states' efforts to criminalize revenge porn threaten First Amendment rights. The ACLU, for example, has expressed concerns that such laws "tread[] on very thin ice constitutionally." As CRL&P has observed, only two states -- California and New Jersey -- have enacted laws criminalizing the non-consensual, retaliatory posting of nude and pornographic images, but states are increasingly undertaking efforts to criminalize such conduct. The article states: 

Many states, according to NCSL data, already have laws on the books that prohibit "taking nude or sexually explicit photographs of a person without a person's knowledge or consent." The issue of malicious online posting or distribution of such photos or videos, however, including "selfies" and other material that may have been initially shared with full consent, had not been widely addressed.

 

The panoply of revenge porn bills that have been introduced range from those that would make such posts a misdemeanor that carries a fine, to those that would make it a felony. Some legislation also targets with civil penalties websites that post the images, including those that attempt to extract payment from the subjects to take down the offending photos or videos.

Despite concern over such laws, constitutional scholars have said that laws criminalizing revenge porn could be crafted so as to conform with the First Amendment. NPR asked the ACLU's Lee Rowland about this, who offered the following:

Legislation that can withstand court scrutiny, Rowland says, should include four main elements: It must designate that the perpetrator had malicious intent, that his or her action caused actual harm, that he or she acted knowingly without consent, and that the victim had an expectation of privacy.

 

"Without those safeguards," she said, "these laws face an uphill battle in the courts. Not only are they unconstitutional, they are unwise — there simply isn't another example I'm aware of where there are criminal penalties for sharing otherwise lawful speech."

 

Rowland gives this example: If an Arizona bill currently being considered were to pass, a person who receives an unsolicited text of a nude selfie and shows it to a friend could be charged with a crime.

 

But the California bill, signed into law last October and on which the ACLU took a neutral position, has been criticized by revenge porn activists as not going far enough. Perpetrators can be charged with disorderly conduct for posting or distributing intimate photos, videos and recording to intentionally inflict emotional harm on the victim. The law, however, doesn't apply to photos the victim has taken him- or herself and shared — so-called sexual "self-portraits" — and does not address revenge porn websites.

 

The revenge porn problem can be tackled, but carefully, constitutional experts advise, with full attention given to the two constitutional values at play: privacy and free speech.

 

Easing the sting of some of the repercussions of the Internet, Rowland says, is desirable but a very tricky thing to do.

CRL&P related posts:

• Man's revenge-porn plot against ex-lover rebuffed by court order
• California law enforcement arrest operator of revenge porn site
• Pennsylvania lawmaker expected to introduce bill criminalizing revenge porn
• School suspends teacher after receiving tip that her photo appeared on revenge porn site
• Criminalizing revenge porn need not violate the First Amendment

Man's revenge-porn plot against ex-lover rebuffed by court order

The Maine Supreme Court has refused the plea of a man who sought to expose his ex-lover bare on the internet. It upheld the lower court's order of protection against the would-be revenge porn distributor's upcoming site, finding the would-be revenge porn distributor's threats to "constitute abuse." He had commenced to threaten his ex-lover after she met with his wife and exposed their affair. The Courthouse News Service reports: 

A married man who threatened to disseminate naked photos of his former mistress online must face an order of protection, the Maine Supreme Court ruled.

 

Ellen Clark and John Brian McLane had an affair for several months from 2011 to 2012, according to the decision, which notes that the "facts are undisputed." After the relationship ended, Clark told McLane's wife about the affair.

 

In early 2013, McLane sent Clark an email "containing a litany of insulting and derogatory remarks," Justice Ellen Gorman wrote for the court.

 

McLane also told Clark that he had obtained websites in her name on which he would post videos and nude photos of her. He said he was also setting up accounts with major search engines so the website would come up when Internet users searched for her name.

 

In addition, Clark told her that he had collected the email addresses of at least 18 of her colleagues, with whom he planned to share links to the websites.

 

"Guys will have your cell number, as well as your work number to get a hold of you and ask you out," McLane wrote.
 

He included a link to the website which read: "The naked pictures of EJ Clark will be coming soon ... along with her cell phone number and her work number for you to call and arrange a date."

 

Clark obtained a year-long protection order against McLane from a district judge in Biddeford after she said that she believed McLane would follow through with the website plan.

 

The court order prohibited McLane from contacting Clark, and directed McLane to take the websites down.

 

The Maine Supreme Court refused to disturb that order last week, concluding that McClane's conduct did in fact constitute abuse.

 

"Abuse comes in many forms, and neither the plain language of the protection statute nor our prior interpretations of it requires evidence of physical abuse or the risk of physical harm to sustain a finding of abuse," Gorman wrote.

 

The definition of abuse includes intimidation designed to prevent someone from engaging in activities which they have they right to pursue. In this case, the activity is Clark's right to go to work, according to the ruling.

 

"Clark testified that McLane's threats, which focused in large part on Clark's work colleagues and future employment prospects, were an attempt to humiliate her an cause her to avoid going to work," Gorman wrote. "Given the liberal construction of the statute that the legislature directs us to apply, the evidence Clark presented is sufficient as a matter of law to support the court's finding of abuse."

CRL&P daily reads:

• California law enforcement arrest operator of revenge porn site
• Pennsylvania lawmaker expected to introduce bill criminalizing revenge porn
• School suspends teacher after receiving tip that her photo appeared on revenge porn site
• Criminalizing revenge porn need not violate the First Amendment

CRL&P Daily Reads: Dec. 14, 2013

NSA, Cyber Command will remain under the control of one military officer; NSA's top civilian official is retiring at the end of the year; but, NSA has already undergone many changes.

Gun control activists leave Capitol Hill to build up infrastructure in the states, while support for tighter gun laws lessens; gun violence is a daily reality for some schools; Politico says Utah is America's gun permit mill; and, CNN columnist says 'Background checks pose no threat to legal gun ownership.'

Detroit's bankruptcy disrupts settlement payments to the man whose wrongful conviction landed him in prison for nearly a decade.

Tea Party groups suing county officials in Texas for denying them use of the county courthouse. 

The Revenge Porn Avengers.

 

CRL&P Daily Reads: Dec. 12, 2013

How gun control is losing, badly; gun control groups focus on states; report says reducing gun violence requires early intervention for troubled youth; Ana Marie Cox claims Congress is scared of the gun lobby; but, gun control activists are staying positive.

Operator of revenge porn site says it's 'ruining my life', and his court date is scheduled.

Former contractor files a civil rights suit alleging the federal goverment harassed him because of an auto-complete error in Google search; and, Miami Gardens police chief resigns following allegations of racial profiling.

North Dakota Supreme Court weighs arguments in abortion case challenging ban on drugs to terminate pregnancies; and, legislators share personal stories about abortion.

No agreement on court date for North Carolina's voter ID case.

NSA chairman says mass surveillance is the best way to protect U.S.; Judge Napolitano warns about NSA mass surveillance; and, 'The Raven' Revisited.

 

California law enforcement arrest operator of revenge porn site

San Diego police yesterday arrested the operator of a revenge porn site and charged him with "31 counts of conspiracy, identity theft, and extortion." According to The Los Angeles Times:

A 27-year-old San Diego man was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of operating a "revenge porn" website and demanding up to $350 to remove sexually explicit photos of women that were often posted by angry former boyfriends or ex-husbands.

 

Kevin Christopher Bollaert was arrested by California Department of Justice agents and is being held at San Diego County jail on $50,000 bail. He faces 31 felony counts of conspiracy, identity theft and extortion.

 

"Online predators that profit from the extortion of private photos will be investigated and prosecuted for this reprehensible and illegal internet activity," said Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris.

 

Bollaert allegedly created a website in December 2012 that allows the anonymous posting of nude and sexually explicit photos. The website required that the poster include the subject's name, location, age and Facebook profile.

 

Prosecutors said more than 10,000 images were posted, from California and other states.

As I have said, I believe that laws that subject to criminal liability people who send sexually explicit images of an ex-lover without their consent could be crafted so as to conform to the First Amendment.  This case, however, raises the more difficult question as to whether online publishers of revenge porn ought to be subject to prosecution.

In Bartnicki v. Vopper, the Supreme Court held that the publication of material illegally obtained by a third party is protected by the First Amendment. The Court said: "In this case, privacy concerns give way when balanced against the interest of publishing matters of public importance...We think it clear that a stranger's illegal conduct does not suffice to remove the First Amendment shield from speech about a matter of public concern." 532 U.S. 514, 536 (2001). However, the Court emphasized that its ruling applied narrowly to matters of "public concern," and it is still unclear what qualifies as such. One would think that revenge porn wouldn't qualify...

Further, assuming that revenge porn is a matter of public concern, there is the question as to whether revenge porn could be considered to have been illegally obtained by a third party. Arguably, revenge porn generally is not obtained illegally; the third party presumably received the image (or took it himself) from its subject. 

In this case, the site operator charged the victims of revenge porn to have pictures of them removed from his site, which perhaps makes this case easier. But, suppose he took the pictures down willingly; and/or suppose he did not include the names or locations of the victims... 

These issues and others will continue to arise as more states criminalize revenge porn. Lawyers and legislators will have to draw lines differentiating the legal from the illegal, which will make these debates increasingly interesting for legal scholars--but painful for victims. 

CRL&P related posts:

• School suspends teacher after receiving tip that her photo appeared on revenge porn site
• Criminalizing revenge porn need not violate the First Amendment
• Bloomberg.com editorial weighs in on revenge porn debate
• Pennsylvania lawmaker expected to introduce bill criminalizing revenge porn

Pennsylvania lawmaker expected to introduce bill criminalizing revenge porn

Pennsylvania may be the next state to consider whether to enact legislation criminalizing revenge porn--generally, the non-consensual distribution of nude or sexually explicit photos or videos with the intent to cause emotional distress. State Sen. Judy Schwank (D) is expected to introduce a bill that would make revenge porn a second-degree misdemeanor:

"The nature of these acts is particularly personal and malignant, and the abuse can be devastating to victims, who nationally have lost jobs, had relationships with family and friends severely damaged and found themselves stalked by strangers," Democratic state Sen. Judy Schwank wrote in a memo to other senators seeking co-sponsors for her bill.

 

Currently, authorities can try to punish people through existing laws such as harassment, but Schwank said that isn't always easy and doesn't carry enough penalties.

 

"Even harassment charges apparently would apply only if there is a repeated course of conduct despite the reality that a single Internet posting can result today in an infinite number of viewings," Schwank wrote in her co-sponsorship memo.

 

She said her legislation would make posting such images a second-degree misdemeanor, which is a grade higher than harassment. If the victim is a minor, the penalty would be steeper, a third-degree felony.

Last week, Delegate-elect Marcus Simon introduced a revenge porn bill in the Virginia General Assembly, which the House of Delegates is expected to consider in January. Several other states are considering similar bills, but only California and New Jersey actually have passed such laws. 

With websites peddling revenge porn reportedly growing, these bills seek to provide protection to victims for whom remedies are usually inadequate.

Victims of revenge porn are typically women--like this teacher who was recently suspended from teaching after the school discovered a nude photo of her on a revenge porn site. However, this is not always the case. Recently, a male doctor was the victim of a vengeful ex-lover who retaliated by posting pictures he had sent her. According to The Cincinnati Enquirer:

He was a doctor having an affair with a married patient he was treating for depression.

 

He sent her lewd pictures and videos of himself. When their affair ended, she accused him of retaliating by getting her fired. She responded by posting online the explicit pictures and videos he’d sent her. Then, he asked a judge to force her to keep his pictures private.

 

The case, playing out before Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Norbert Nadel, illustrates the new privacy battles being waged after bitter breakups and relationships forged in an increasingly online world. Similar cases have helped spawn a new catch phrase – “revenge porn” – and have caused legislators to change laws in some states.

 

“The reason for its increase is convenience,” said lawyer John Garon, director of the Northern Kentucky University Law + Informatics Institute. “The camera has become part of the bedroom.”

 

Amelia’s Dolly Beattie is suing Terrence McCoy. She accuses McCoy of taking advantage of his status as her doctor while having sex with her.

Opponents of such legislation typically are concerned that these laws chill protected speech. But, as CRL&P has argued, such forecasts seem improbable. Revenge porn is capable of such narrow defintition that carefully crafted legislation likely would not affect protected First Amendment speech.

CRL&P related posts:

• School suspends teacher after receiving tip that her photo appeared on revenge porn site
• Criminalizing revenge porn need not violate the First Amendment
• Bloomberg.com editorial weighs in on revenge porn debate
• Third Circuit finds middle schoolers’ “I ♥ boobies” bracelets protected by First Amendment
• Facebook "like" and First Amendment protection for the right to vote

CRL&P Daily Reads: Dec. 9, 2013

Senate likely to extend ban on plastic guns, but nexus of gun-control debate has shifted to the states; and, four of five members of the city council in rural Rhode Island town face recalls after recommending changes to process for issuing concealed weapons permits.

Obama about ready to announce changes to NSA surveillance program; major tech companies submit open letter to Obama and Congress demanding new limits on NSA's freedom-harming surveillance; Snowden might testify before the EU Parliament's committee on civil liberties; local law enforcement is using software in NSA-style monitoring of cellphone data, and here's how it does it; and, Sen. Paul calls for a renewed commitment to the Fourth Amendment.

Rutger's basketball player alleges civil rights violations against former coach for allegedly repeated verbal and physical abuse; and, New Orleans settles civil rights lawsuit alleging man was falsely arrested and held for five months.

Editorial lambasts New Mexico prison for placing 71-year-old in solitary confinement for one month on suspicion of bringing meth into the facility.

Internet companies speak out against former Cincinatti Bengals cheerleader's defamation suit after federal judge allows it to proceed.

Lexington facing protests after booking for its New Years Eve party a DJ who previously ran a revenge porn site.

 

School suspends teacher after receiving tip that her photo appeared on revenge porn site

A Cincinnati-area school has placed one of its teachers on administrative leave after receiving a tip that a nude photo of her had been posted on a revenge porn site, according to USA Today. Although the school has not released the teacher's name, it did send email to staff and parents of its students explaining the situation. Thus, by simply deducing which faculty member has been absent, the school community could easily determine her identity.

Several states are considering whether to enact laws criminalizing revenge porn, but only California and New Jersey have actually passed such laws. Anti-revenge porn activists also will ask Congress to enact federal laws to protect victims of revenge porn.

Opponents have expressed concerns that such laws will chill protected First Amendment speech on the internet, while others worry that such laws  will reach "fine art." But, narrowly tailored legislation criminalizing only the nonconsensual posting of nude images likely would not have that affect.

CRL&P related posts:

• Criminalizing revenge porn need not violate the First Amendment
• Bloomberg.com editorial weighs in on revenge porn debate
• Facebook "like" and First Amendment protection for the right to vote
• Third Circuit finds middle schoolers’ “I ♥ boobies” bracelets protected by First Amendment

CRL&P Daily Reads: Nov. 21, 2013

Many believe NSA intrusions go too far, and most Americans believe Snowden leaks harmed national security; President Reagan played a role in NSA's development; NSA spies on Britons despite no-spying pact; and, Toomey & Kaufmann argue that the problems with NSA surveillance are the result of too much secrecy.

Wisconsin Supreme Court to hear challenge to voter ID law; proponent of Wisconsin voter ID law claims that people who can't vote just don't care; and, Massachusetts House approves early voting and online registration.

Online impersonators are not protected by the First Amendment, according to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

Disgruntled businessman uses newspaper editor's name to direct people to hardcore porn website.

Police use of license plate readers draws criticisms from privacy groups.

Rep. John Lewis speaks about President Kennedy's complicated relationship with civil rights.

 

Criminalizing revenge porn need not violate the First Amendment

Here's one woman's account of her experiences with revenge porn. Notably, her former boyfriend started an eBay auction with nude photos of her, and he linked the auction to several of her employer's Facebook pages. Because she was a professor, co-workers were not alone in viewing the images--several students saw them too.

A year and half later, the images appeared on a porn website.

 

Eventually, she was diagnosed with PTSD and her therapist recommended that she request medical leave. She did. But, her employer was not sympathetic.

The article begins:

In February 2010, my ex-boyfriend, Joey (name changed) and I had a fight over a skirt I wore to work. He deemed the skirt too short. He shamed me, called me a hooker, and accused me of sleeping with all my male friends. After watching his jealousy and possessiveness steadily increase over our seven-month relationship, I was at my breaking point. We were over.

The day after the fight, Joey called me at 11:53pm. He was livid. He said he was looking on my Facebook page and from what he could see it was clear I was sleeping with at least three other guys. I tried to rationalize with him, to convince him he was mistaken. But he was too far-gone to hear me.

He threatened to start an eBay auction. If I didn't tell him the truth about how many other guys I was sleeping with, he said he was going to auction off a CD of 88 naked images of me that I allowed him to take after three months of relentless pressure. He said he would send links to the auction to my friends and family, to people at the college where I teach. I shook with desperate fear. I knew no words would change his mind. Joey had flown into a rage, uncontrollable and impervious to reason. I knew my fate, and my only defense was to call the police. I begged and pleaded for him not to carry out his threat.

Then he said the words that would change the course of my life: "I will destroy you."

I called the Baltimore County police and through my sobs tried to explain what was happening and why I needed help. The dispatcher sent an officer to my home who looked down on me as I explained that I wanted him to stop a threat. It was the first of many times I would be told, "There is nothing I can do. No crime had been committed." And at that point, no crime had been committed. I was frantic over a threat, which to the bored officer was nothing to worry about. To me, it was a portent of the misery I'd soon suffer.

The auction went live the following afternoon. I received about three emails from eBay informing me that, "Joseph Mann thought you might like this item on eBay" The link read: (Name of college)MD English Professor Nude Photos!

The concern with revenge porn is not the image, as such. In Jenkins v. Georgia, the Supreme Court ruled that nudity was not obscene (one of the original exceptions to protected First Amendment speech): "There are occasional scenes of nudity [in the film Carnal Knowledge], but nudity alone is not enough to make material legally obscene[.]" 418 U.S 153, 161 (1974).

As always, context matters. Screaming "fire" in a crowded theater is not protected First Amendment speech when there is no fire. But, if the concession stand has erupted in flames...

In Brandt v. Bd. of Education of City of Chicago, 480 F.3d 460 (6th Cir. 2007), Judge Posner observes:

Although freedom of speech and of the press...are often loosely paraphrased as "freedom of expression," and clothes are certainly a way in which people express themselves, clothing as such is not--not normally at any rate--constitutionally protected expression...Self-expression is not to be equated to the expression of ideas or opinions[.]

Whether clothing is protected speech, of course, comes down to the context in which the clothes are worn. "Merely wearing clothes inappropriate to a particular occasion could be a political statement," writes Judge Posner; or, "If Irish people were forbidden to wear green on St Patrick's Day, a natural form of protest would be to wear green on that day."

Because revenge porn legislation deals with the non-consensual publication of images and/or videos, the context is different from pornography that is protected by the First Amendment. 

The principle concern with revenge porn legislation is that it will chill protected speech. As Wisconsin Public Radio reported when revenge porn legislation was introduced there, "[S]tate Rep. Fred Kessler, D-Milwaukee, is concerned the bill is too broad and might restrict people's freedom of expression by limiting the creation and distribution of fine art."

This is a stretch. Revenge porn legislation would forbid the non-consensual publication of nude images, not the publication of nude images. Just as an artist could not yell "fire" in a crowded theater and then claim First Amendment protection for video taken as people flee to safety, an artist should not be able to invoke an ambiguous art justification for the non-consensual publication of nude images. Artists using such images are not producing art, they're creating pain. It's a "scouge." As Justice Scalia has written, "[A] physical assault discloses that the attacker dislikes the victim[,]" but that does not transform the assault into protected First Amendment expression. Nevada Comm'n on Ethics v. Carrigan, 131 S.Ct. 2343, 2350 (2011).

Indeed, as UCLA professor Eugene Volokh has written: 

I do think that a suitably clear and narrow statute banning nonconsensual posting of nude pictures of another, in a context where there’s good reason to think that the subject did not consent to publication of such pictures, would likely be upheld by the courts. While I don’t think judges and juries should be able to decide, on a case-by-case basis, which statements about a person aren’t of “legitimate public concern” and can therefore be banned, I think courts can rightly conclude that as a categorical matter such nude pictures indeed lack First Amendment value.

I agree. I, too, dislike granting judges the authority to determine what constitutes valid artistic, literary, or political expression. Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15 (1973). But, what would be (or should be) forbidden by legislation criminalizing revenge porn is not the value of nude images. 

CRL&P related posts:

• Bloomberg.com editorial weighs in on revenge porn debate
• Facebook "like" and First Amendment protection for the right to vote
• Third Circuit finds middle schoolers’ “I ♥ boobies” bracelets protected by First Amendment.

 

CRL&P Daily Reads: Nov. 15, 2013

Ten homeless people file civil rights lawsuit to keep city from evicting them from a local landfill.

NYC's stop-and-frisk policy results in conviction in just 3 percent of cases.*

Disabled man sues city under ADA for right to keep his service dog--a pit bull.

California judge rejects challenge to local ordinance banning the use of 'sign waver' advertisements.

Pennsylvania judge rejects request to block challenge to the state law banning recognition of same-sex marriages; Hawaii judge upholds state's new same-sex marriage law; and, transgender woman's employment discrimination case is tossed.

Victims call for legislation criminalizing revenge porn.

Jimmy Carter says the U.S. should abolish the death penalty.

* Correction: A helpful reader observed that the second link above was incorrect. It previously stated that New York City's stop-and-frisk policy leads to sentences of 30 days or more in just 1.5 percent of the cases, but the rate is actually much lower than that. In fact, the AG's report states on page 3:

Less than one in seventeen SQF arrests, or 0.3% of stops, resulted in sentences of more than 30 days of imprisonment.

 

CRL&P Daily Reads: Oct. 30, 2013

Group pushing for state laws criminalizing revenge porn, but future efforts could be aimed at federal government.

Glenn Greenwald appeared on Anderson 360 last night to discuss the revelation that the NSA was spying on allies.

Woman sues Texas over ban on same-sex marriage.

NY Post claims former employee's allegations of a hostile work environment related to the controversial Obama/chimpanzee cartoon are trivial.

Saudi teacher who supports women's right to drive has been detained.

 

CRL&P Daily Reads: Oct. 27, 2013

Judge dismisses false arrest lawsuit in which the wrong man was arrested and held in prison for five days before police realized their mistake.

Macy's now joined with Barney's in scandal over allegations that the businesses profiled black shoppers making expensive purchases and detained them, while Barney's vows to review its policies.

Wisconsin becomes latest state to consider enacting legislation criminalizing revenge porn.

Protesters marched in Washington on Saturday decrying the NSA's online surveillance program.

FBI investigates the recent killing by police of 13-year-old carrying a plastic gun.