REPORTING FOR DUTY
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May
6
[via Instapundit] Congress is proposing legislation that would carry jail time for people who use electronic communications to intimidate or “bully” another person.
`Sec. 881. Cyberbullying
`(a) Whoever transmits in interstate or foreign commerce any communication, with the intent to coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to a person, using electronic means to support severe, repeated, and hostile behavior, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.
If this passes, would the Obama administration face jail time for repeatedly using electronic communications to coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to a people like bankers, AIG executives, and certain hedge fund operators?
Who will define “emotional distress?” Or will that be like pornography in that a judge will know it when she sees it?
And just because nobody is paying attention, take a look at the names of the sponsors of this legislation:
Rep Sanchez, Linda T. [CA-39]
Rep Bishop, Timothy H. [NY-1]
Rep Braley, Bruce L. [IA-1]
Rep Capps, Lois [CA-23]
Rep Clay, Wm. Lacy [MO-1] (PROGRESSIVE)
Rep Courtney, Joe [CT-2]
Rep Davis, Danny K. [IL-7] (PROGRESSIVE)
Rep Grijalva, Raul M. [AZ-7] (PROGRESSIVE)
Rep Hare, Phil [IL-17] (PROGRESSIVE)
Rep Higgins, Brian [NY-27]
Rep Kaptur, Marcy [OH-9] (PROGRESSIVE)
Rep Kirk, Mark Steven [IL-10]
Rep Luetkemeyer, Blaine [MO-9]
Rep Roybal-Allard, Lucille [CA-34] (PROGRESSIVE)
Rep Sarbanes, John P. [MD-3]
Rep Space, Zachary T. [OH-18]
Rep Titus, Dina [NV-3]
Rep Yarmuth, John A. [KY-3]
Proposals like this make Democrats and Progressives appear very cavalier about restricting speech by law in order to protect what they decide is the greater good.
Comments
6 Comments so far
[...] protest probably told Beijing all they need to know about Obama.Founding Bloggers reports that the US Congress is poised to propose legislation against “cyperbullying”. The money quote: If this passes, would the Obama administration face jail time for repeatedly [...]
Wired picked up this story too.
I just gotta wonder how people who take an oath to uphold the constitution find it so easy to ban free speech when it suits them..
This clearly is going nowhere, but it makes public fools of those who support it. They should be mocked relentlessly.
There is nothing Progressive about Totalitarian control.
there’s nothing progressive about Progressives!
That bill is a two edged sword…
No one is more vitriolic than the left wing zealots… A visit to Huffington Post and DailyKos would curl grandma’s silver hair.
That bill could turn Troll Baiting into a national pass time.