First Conviction Using California's Revenge Porn Law

from the for-one-horrible-ex-boyfriend dept

Just as Arizona’s anti-revenge porn law has been put on hold due to First Amendment concerns, California prosecutors have scored their first conviction under California’s recently enacted revenge porn law. The guy, Noe Iniguez, sounds particularly horrible:

Iniguez, using an alias, allegedly began posting derogatory comments about his ex-girlfriend on her employer?s Facebook page. In March, 2014 Iniguez allegedly posted a topless photograph of the victim on her employer?s Facebook page which was accompanied by a message that called the victim a ?drunk? and a ?slut? and encouraged her firing from the company.

The court gave him a year in jail. However, again, it appears that existing laws would have been perfectly fine for going after this guy. The reports say that he ignored two separate restraining orders and the jury had found him guilty of such. The revenge porn law just seems like a way of adding even more charges, and prosecutors recognize that, as the following statement came from LA City Attorney Mike Feuer:

California?s new revenge porn law gives prosecutors a valuable tool to protect victims whose lives and reputations have been upended by a person they once trusted. This conviction sends a strong message that this type of malicious behavior will not be tolerated.

There’s no doubt that the actions taken by Iniguez were horrible. I totally get the desire to put him away — but, again, it appears that existing laws were perfectly adequate in dealing with the situation. The problem is that these kinds of revenge porn laws open up the ability to potentially go after people for First Amendment protected speech, and that should be a serious concern.

Filed Under: , , , ,

Rate this comment as insightful
Rate this comment as funny
You have rated this comment as insightful
You have rated this comment as funny
Flag this comment as abusive/trolling/spam
You have flagged this comment
The first word has already been claimed
The last word has already been claimed
Insightful Lightbulb icon Funny Laughing icon Abusive/trolling/spam Flag icon Insightful badge Lightbulb icon Funny badge Laughing icon Comments icon

Comments on “First Conviction Using California's Revenge Porn Law”

Subscribe: RSS Leave a comment
5 Comments
Violynne (profile) says:

California’s new revenge porn law gives prosecutors a valuable tool to protect victims whose lives and reputations have been upended by a person they once trusted.
It’s this idiotic mindset why we have too many stupid laws on the books.

Laws aren’t created to deter. They’re create to punish.

This victim, despite the law being on the books at the time of the crime, wasn’t protected because of the “law”.

Add Your Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Have a Techdirt Account? Sign in now. Want one? Register here

Comment Options:

Make this the or (get credits or sign in to see balance) what's this?

What's this?

Techdirt community members with Techdirt Credits can spotlight a comment as either the "First Word" or "Last Word" on a particular comment thread. Credits can be purchased at the Techdirt Insider Shop »

Follow Techdirt

Techdirt Daily Newsletter

Ctrl-Alt-Speech

A weekly news podcast from
Mike Masnick & Ben Whitelaw

Subscribe now to Ctrl-Alt-Speech »
Techdirt Deals
Techdirt Insider Discord
The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...
Loading...