Police Officers Lean on School to Fire Social Worker for Facebook Post--and May Have Violated First Amendment

Police Officers Lean on School to Fire Social Worker for Facebook Post–and May Have Violated First Amendment

Perez v. Tedford, SA 13-CV-429-XR (W.D. Tx. Oct. 22, 2013) Plaintiff was a case manager at Communities in Schools of San Antonio. She was aware that an individual was subject to a protective order that prohibited contact with a student,…

Sexting a Minor Isn't a Crime in Texas

Sexting a Minor Isn’t a Crime in Texas

Ex Parte John Christopher Lo, No. PD-1560-12 (Oct. 30, 2013) The highest criminal court in Texas struck down a portion of a Texas statute prohibiting “communicating in a sexually explicit manner” with a minor with the intent to arouse. (Section…

Want To Avoid Defaming Someone Online? Link To Your Sources (Forbes Cross-Post)

Want To Avoid Defaming Someone Online? Link To Your Sources (Forbes Cross-Post)

Adelson v. Harris, 2013 WL 5420973 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 30, 2013) When you are tweeting or Facebooking, you probably don’t think much about your risk of being sued for defamation. Fortunately, such lawsuits are rare. Unfortunately, even quickly written and seemingly…

Landlord May Be Liable When A Tenant's Facebook Harassment Leads To A Rape (Forbes Cross-Post)

Landlord May Be Liable When A Tenant’s Facebook Harassment Leads To A Rape (Forbes Cross-Post)

Lindsay P. v. Towne Property Asset Management, 2013-Ohio-4124 (Ohio Ct. App. Sept. 23, 2013). If you’re a landlord, what should you do if you learn that a resident is harassing another tenant on Facebook or other social media websites? If…

Police Officer's Facebook Venting Isn't Protected By The First Amendment--Gresham v. Atlanta

Police Officer’s Facebook Venting Isn’t Protected By The First Amendment–Gresham v. Atlanta

Gresham v. City of Atlanta, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 20961 (11th Cir. Oct. 17, 2013). [Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Gresham was a law enforcement officer. She complained on Facebook about the alleged unethical interference by a department investigator in an…

California's New Law Shows It's Not Easy To Regulate Revenge Porn (Forbes Cross-Post)

California’s New Law Shows It’s Not Easy To Regulate Revenge Porn (Forbes Cross-Post)

California enacted a new law against “revenge” porn, sometimes called “involuntary” porn. SB 255, codified as California Penal Code 647(j)(4). The law says it is “disorderly conduct” for a defendant to take intimate and confidential recordings, such as photos or…

Social Media Rant Against Airline Employee Wasn't Defamatory But May Be False Light--Patterson v. Grant-Herms

Social Media Rant Against Airline Employee Wasn’t Defamatory But May Be False Light–Patterson v. Grant-Herms

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with comments from Eric] Patterson v. Grant-Herms, 2013 Tenn. App. 675 (Tenn. Ct. App. Oct. 8, 2013) Defendant Natalie Grant-Herms wasn’t allowed to board a flight at the same time as her four year old daughter,…

California's Latest Effort To Keep Some Ads From Reaching Kids Is Misguided And Unconstitutional (Forbes Cross-Post)

California’s Latest Effort To Keep Some Ads From Reaching Kids Is Misguided And Unconstitutional (Forbes Cross-Post)

California recently enacted SB 568 (Business & Professions Code 22580) to prevent certain types of online advertising from being shown to kids. Like so many other state efforts to regulate the Internet, the new law takes an understandable regulatory objective…

Calling Out Scraper for "Stealing" Data Is Not Defamatory – Tamburo v. Dworkin

Calling Out Scraper for “Stealing” Data Is Not Defamatory – Tamburo v. Dworkin

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Tamburo v. Dworkin, 04 C 3317 (N.D. Ill. Sept. 26, 2013) This is an interesting dispute that brings together several legal doctrines we love to cover here. It’s the type of fact pattern a law school…

California’s New ‘Online Eraser’ Law Should Be Erased (Forbes Cross-Post)

By Eric Goldman People mocked Google CEO Eric Schmidt for his 2010 suggestion that teenagers should change their names when they turn 18 to avoid the indiscreet and ill-advised Internet posts they made as youths. The California legislature thought it…