["As the globes premier parodists, The Onions writers also have a
self-serving interest in preventing political authorities from
imprisoning humorists."]
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THE ONION FILES ‘MASTERFULLY WRITTEN’ AMICUS BRIEF IN SUPPORT OF
JAILED PARODIST  
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Brett Wilkins
October 4, 2022
Common Dreams
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_ "As the globe's premier parodists, The Onion's writers also have a
self-serving interest in preventing political authorities from
imprisoning humorists." _

A photo of The Onion's headquarters in Chicago., The Onion/Twitter

 

THE SATIRICAL NEWSPAPER _THE__ Onion_ on Monday filed an amicus brief
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mixing humor with legal arguments in support of an Ohio man who was
briefly jailed over a parody Facebook page mocking his local police
department.

The filing says _The Onion_—"the world's leading news
publication"—submitted the brief "to protect its continued ability
to create fiction that may ultimately merge
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reality. As the globe's premier parodists, _The Onion_'s writers also
have a self-serving interest in preventing political authorities from
imprisoning humorists."

In 2016, police in Parma, Ohio arrested and jailed Anthony Novak after
he created a Facebook page resembling the local police department's
own page on the social network.

According to
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the _Associated Press_, Novak's posts included a hiring announcement
"strongly encouraging minorities to not apply" and a fake event where
any convicted pedophile could be "removed from the sex offender
registry and accepted as an honorary police officer."

Novak was charged with one felony count of disrupting public services
but was acquitted at trial. He subsequently sued, alleging violations
of his constitutional rights. However, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals dismissed Novak's suit by granting Parma police officers
qualified immunity
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a legal doctrine broadly shielding cops and other government officials
from civil lawsuits.

"Americans can be put in jail for poking fun at the government? This
was a surprise to America's Finest News Source and an uncomfortable
learning experience for its editorial team," the brief states.
"Indeed, 'Ohio Police Officers Arrest, Prosecute Man Who Made Fun of
Them on Facebook' might sound like a headline ripped from the front
pages of _The Onion_—albeit one that's considerably less amusing
because its subjects are real."

"The 6th Circuit's ruling imperils an ancient form of discourse," the
brief asserts. "The court's decision suggests that parodists are in
the clear only if they pop the balloon in advance by warning their
audience that their parody is not true."

"But some forms of comedy don't work unless the comedian is able to
tell the joke with a straight face," the document continues. "Parody
is the quintessential example. Parodists intentionally inhabit the
rhetorical form of their target in order to exaggerate or implode
it—and by doing so demonstrate the target's illogic or absurdity."

The brief argues:

* Parody functions by tricking people into thinking that it's real;
* Because parody mimics the "real thing," it has the unique capacity
to criticize the real thing;
* A reasonable reader does not need a disclaimer to know that parody
is parody; and
* It should be obvious that parodists cannot be prosecuted for
telling a joke with a straight face.

"_The Onion_ cannot stand idly by in the face of a ruling that
threatens to disembowel a form of rhetoric that has existed for
millennia, that is particularly potent in the realm of political
debate, and that, purely incidentally, forms the basis of _The
Onion_'s writers' paychecks," the filing asserts.

"_The Onion_ intends to continue its socially valuable role bringing
the disinfectant of sunlight into the halls of power," the brief adds.
"And it would vastly prefer that sunlight not to be measured out to
its writers in 15-minute increments in an exercise yard."

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel
free to republish and share widely.
 

* The Onion; Anthony Novak; News Parody;
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