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                    "Editor's Note: An image of the exchange, including Shrek, was added to this article after its initial publication.Princess Fiona never complained, but Sen. Jerry Cirino sure did.In May, the Ohio state senator emailed a local police chief, asking him to file criminal charges against a progressive blogger who texted Cirino an image of Shrek\u2026 enjoying his swamp stick.The blogger, D.J. Byrnes, runs\u00a0The Rooster political website.\u00a0According to\u00a0Signal Ohio:The text messages include Byrnes\u2019 political commentary, him calling Cirino his oft-repeated and derisive nickname \u201cYoung Mussolini,\u201d and Byrnes plugging his own newsletter.It also contains a digitally altered version of Shrek, the ogre with a titular children\u2019s movie franchise, with his penis exposed. An affidavit with Byrnes\u2019 arrest report refers to the depiction of Shrek as \u201cfully nude with an exposed and erect humanlike penis engaged in an act of masturbation.\u201d\n  \n      \n            \n                  \n              \n              \n                    \n\n  \n\n\n  \n  \nNo Shrektile Dysfunction there.On May 8, two days after Byrnes sent the texts, Cirino emailed Kirtland Police Chief Jamey Fisher, \u201cofficially filing a complaint\u201d and asking the police to file charges against Byrnes.\u00a0Byrnes was arrested on Monday based on what appears to be the three texts.\u00a0He was released after 23 hours in jail,\u00a0commenting on Instagram: \u201cI believe that the facts presented in court will show that I\u2019m innocent of the misdemeanor charge of telecommunications harassment.\u201dSo . . . can the government prosecute Byrnes for his speech? Let\u2019s look at the facts.What is Byrnes charged with?\u00a0Byrnes is charged with\u00a0telecommunications harassment, punishable by up to\u00a0six months in jail. To be found guilty, the prosecution must prove that Byrnes sent the texts with the intent to \u201charass, intimidate, or abuse\u201d Cirino.What does the First Amendment say?About Shrek\u2019s schlong specifically? Nothing, surprisingly. But it does have a lot to say about speech criticizing government officials \u2014 that is, that it lies at the heart of our constitutional protection for free speech. Aside from\u00a0very narrow exceptions to the First Amendment, such as true threats or obscenity, the government generally cannot punish people for saying things to or about public officials, even if some find the speech offensive, insulting or vulgar.Political speech doesn\u2019t have to be serious or reverent to have First Amendment protection.Is this harassment?\n  \n      \n            \n                  \n              \n              \n                    \n\n  \n\n\n  \n  \nThe First Amendment also doesn\u2019t protect conduct that amounts to harassment, properly defined. But from the content FIRE has been able to review, this was not punishable harassment.\u00a0Enforcing harassment laws stays within constitutional lines when, for example, it focuses on unprotected speech like true threats or a repeated, unwanted course of conduct aimed at invading someone\u2019s privacy or disturbing their peace. Think of someone making dozens of calls in the middle of the night to keep someone awake, or continuing to send dozens of texts day after day after being told repeatedly to stop. But a handful of afternoon texts \u2014 including a single image \u2014 from one easily blockable number, looks like protected speech, not criminal harassment. Especially absent any apparent request to stop.Is this obscene?As with harassment, the First Amendment has a high bar before the government can punish or prohibit something as legally obscene. And this exception to what the First Amendment protects doesn\u2019t automatically apply to speech that someone finds \u201cdisgusting\u201d or \u201cpornographic.\u201dIn\u00a0Miller v. California, the Supreme Court ruled that expression is legally obscene only if it satisfies three elements. First, the material, taken as a whole, must appeal to the \u201cprurient interest\u201d (an excessive interest in sex). Second, it must depict sexual conduct in a patently offensive way as defined by law. And third, the material must lack any serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. It\u2019s a demanding standard.\u00a0\n\n\n\n\t\t\n      \n            \n  \n\n\n\n  \n  \n                  \n  \n    \n  \n  \n\nWATCH VIDEO: An Ohio political blogger spent almost a full day in jail after texting a state senator an image of Shrek's penis.\n\nIf a work fails to meet even one of these three elements, the First Amendment protects it.The Shrek image may have been crude or vulgar. But in context, there is no serious argument Byrnes sent it to arouse anyone\u2019s sexual interest, let alone that it satisfies the\u00a0Miller test. Byrnes sent it to another adult, reportedly accompanied by political commentary describing Cirino as \u201cYoung Mussolini.\u201d That\u2019s protected political mockery, not obscenity.So, can you text images of ogres in a state of Shrekstacy?\u00a0Before anyone loosens their gumdrop buttons, remember that, as in essentially all First Amendment cases, context and details matter. But from what FIRE has seen, Byrnes should not be facing telecommunications harassment charges.\u00a0What should I do if I find myself the victim of unwanted images of Shrekstracurricular activities?The easiest solution: Block the number. Unless, of course, you\u2019re into that sort of thing."
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