Felony Friday: Arizona Makes “Revenge Porn” A Felony
Another controversial law was signed by Governor Jan Brewer this week in Arizona. The new legislation means Arizona will be the first state to make posting “revenge porn” online a felony offense. The Arizona Legislature unanimously passed the bill one week ago and the governor signed it into law last Wednesday.“Revenge porn”, also referred to as non-consensual pornography, is the dissemination of sexually explicit images of an individual without their permission. The act of posting private pictures without permission of all parties can be an emotionally crippling experience. Especially considering those private images or videos were meant for the eyes of a lover, but are now revealed to the world. Revenge porn can also seriously damage one’s reputation and hurt future career aspirations.The text of House Bill 2515 reads as follows:
It is unlawful to intentionally disclose, display, distribute, publish, advertise or offer a photograph, videotape, film or digital recording of another person...if the person knows or should have known that the depicted person has not consented to the disclosure.
Arizona is the ninth state to pass a law against revenge porn, but they are the first to make the practice a felony. Revenge porn is a disturbing societal trend, but is the best path to limiting the act by punishing the practice through the criminal courts?The Arizona law and similar laws in other states could have unintended consequences on constitutionally protected free speech. The conduct of posting a picture online, even without the consent of the person pictured, is speech. Speech is supposedly protected by the First Amendment. Criminalizing certain forms of speech in this manner could lead to other acts of speech being limited on the internet. Sharing non explicit, but possibly embarrassing photos or videos without an individual’s consent could be the next act of speech limited by overreaching courts. Where would the assault on speech stop?There is no reason that disagreements based on violations of human intimacy or trust should be prosecuted by criminal courts. These highly complex and personal disagreements should be handled in civil courts.Certainly, in a libertarian society, a plaintiff could sue for damages if the defendant unknowingly or maliciously distributed sexually explicative pictures of a prior romance in order to extort funds. The burden of proof would be on the plaintiff to prove emotional suffering or damage to reputation that could result in future monetary losses.Revenge porn is a despicable expression of speech, but it is speech nonetheless. Bringing the State into a disagreement between two individuals seems like it will only lead the State into exploring other areas they can use their court system to limit free speech.Check out our past editions of Felony Friday!The Lions of Liberty are on Twitter, Facebook & Google+Receive access to ALL of our EXCLUSIVE bonus audio content – including “Conspiracy Corner”, “Degenerate Gamblers” and the “League of Liberty Podcast” by joining the Lions of Liberty Pride and supporting us on Patreon!
