{"id":2862,"date":"2022-01-28T08:50:55","date_gmt":"2022-01-28T07:50:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/monblogeur.tech\/index.php\/2022\/01\/28\/facebook-users-lawsuit-claims-vermont-statute-violates-free-speech-rights-vtdigger-org\/"},"modified":"2022-01-28T08:50:55","modified_gmt":"2022-01-28T07:50:55","slug":"facebook-users-lawsuit-claims-vermont-statute-violates-free-speech-rights-vtdigger-org","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/monblogeur.tech\/index.php\/2022\/01\/28\/facebook-users-lawsuit-claims-vermont-statute-violates-free-speech-rights-vtdigger-org\/","title":{"rendered":"Facebook user\u2019s lawsuit claims Vermont statute violates free speech rights &#8211; vtdigger.org"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"cfbc967f0983488262956e73eca9483a\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:10px 0 10px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3859091246952232\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- blok -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3859091246952232\" data-ad-slot=\"1334354390\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n\n<\/div>\n<p>By <span class=\"author\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/author\/kevin-oconnor\/\" title=\"Posts by Kevin O&#039;Connor\" class=\"author url fn\" rel=\"author\">Kevin O&#039;Connor<\/a><\/span><br \/> <a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2022\/01\/27\/facebook-users-lawsuit-claims-vermont-statute-violates-free-speech-rights\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Jan 27 2022, 6:17 PMJanuary 27, 2022<\/a><br \/>BRATTLEBORO \u2014 A local Black Lives Matter supporter questioned by police after revealing a critical Facebook commenter to an \u201cexposing every racist\u201d group has filed a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.acluvt.org\/sites\/default\/files\/1.27.22_-_vinson_complaint.pdf\">lawsuit<\/a> challenging a <a href=\"https:\/\/legislature.vermont.gov\/statutes\/section\/13\/019\/01027\">state statute<\/a> that prohibits disturbing the peace by \u201celectronic communications.\u201d<br \/>Brattleboro resident Isabel Vinson is suing the state in U.S. District Court almost two years after she faced criminal charges for directing people to a local man\u2019s social media pages \u2014 an action that led him to call authorities and complain of online harassment.<br \/>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.acluvt.org\/sites\/default\/files\/1.27.22_-_vinson_complaint.pdf\">court papers<\/a>, Vinson, who is white, saw a Facebook post by Brattleboro resident Christian Antoniello in June 2020 responding to Black Lives Matter protests against the Minneapolis police murder of Minnesotan George Floyd.<br \/>You&rsquo;ll never miss a story with our daily headlines in your inbox.<br \/>\u201cHow about all lives matter,\u201d Antoniello wrote on his personal page. \u201cNot black lives, not white lives. Get over yourself no one\u2019s life is more important than the next. Put your race card away and grow up.\u201d<br \/>Vinson responded with her own Facebook message.<br \/>\u201cDisgusting,\u201d she wrote before commenting that Antoniello \u201cthinks this is okay and no matter how many people try and tell him it\u2019s wrong he doesn\u2019t seem to care.\u201d&nbsp;<br \/>Vinson shared the post with a Facebook group called \u201cExposing Every Racist.\u201d She urged people to \u201cleave a review\u201d on the page of Antoniello\u2019s local business, the Harmony Underground marijuana and CBD supply shop.<br \/>Brattleboro police, receiving a report that Antoniello and his wife feared for their safety, went on to cite Vinson under a <a href=\"https:\/\/legislature.vermont.gov\/statutes\/section\/13\/019\/01027\">state statute<\/a> that targets people \u201cwith intent to terrify, intimidate, threaten, harass, or annoy\u201d others electronically. It calls for fines up to $250 or imprisonment up to three months.<br \/>After the American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont inquired about the incident, police offered to drop criminal charges and divert the matter to a local alternative justice program. When Vinson rejected that offer, authorities closed the case altogether.<br \/>Vinson, however, has yet to move on.<br \/>\u201cAs a result of the citation, Ms. Vinson\u2019s speech has been chilled,\u201d her lawsuit states. \u201cShe has been reluctant to post on Facebook, especially posts criticizing local businesses, because she has a real and imminent fear of future prosecution.\u201d<br \/>The lawsuit argues the state statute cited by police is \u201cat once vague and exceedingly broad in scope\u201d and violates the U.S. Constitution\u2019s First and Fourteenth Amendments. Vinson and the ACLU are asking the court to issue an injunction prohibiting its future enforcement.<br \/>\u201cVermont police should have better things to do than targeting and criminally citing Vermonters for non-threatening Facebook posts,\u201d Jay Diaz, ACLU general counsel and one of Vinson\u2019s four lawyers, said in a statement.<br \/>Added state ACLU Executive Director James Lyall: \u201cIn these times more than ever, it\u2019s important to recognize that a healthier democracy requires a free exchange of ideas.\u201d<br \/>The lawsuit names Vermont Attorney General TJ Donovan and Windham County State\u2019s Attorney Tracy Shriver as defendants. Asked to respond, Donovan\u2019s Chief of Staff Charity Clark limited herself to \u201cthe Attorney General\u2019s Office is currently reviewing the complaint.\u201d<br \/>Brattleboro has hired a new police chief, Norma Hardy, since the incident. Hardy, the first Black woman to serve in her role both locally and statewide, said a review of the case showed \u201call policies and procedures were followed\u201d and came solely in response to Antoniello\u2019s complaints of harassment.<br \/>Stay on top of all of Vermont&rsquo;s criminal justice news. Sign up here to get a weekly email with all of VTDigger&rsquo;s reporting on courts and crime. <br \/>Kevin O\u2019Connor is a Brattleboro-based writer and former staffer for the Sunday Rutland Herald and Times Argus.<br \/><i class=\"fa fa-envelope\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>Email: <a href=\"\/cdn-cgi\/l\/email-protection#b6ddd3c0dfd8d9d5d9d8d8d9c4c0c2f6d1dbd7dfda98d5d9db\"> <span class=\"__cf_email__\" data-cfemail=\"95fef0e3fcfbfaf6fafbfbfae7e3e1d5f2f8f4fcf9bbf6faf8\">[email&#160;protected]<\/span><\/a><br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/author\/kevin-oconnor\/\">View all stories by Kevin O&rsquo;Connor<\/a><br \/> VTDigger is now accepting letters to the editor. For information about our guidelines, and access to the letter form, please <a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/submit-a-letter-to-the-editor\/\" style=\"text-decoration: underline;font-weight: bold\">click here<\/a>.<br \/><label>&#916;<textarea name=\"ak_hp_textarea\" cols=\"45\" rows=\"8\"><\/textarea><\/label><br \/><a href=\"\/vtdigger-obituaries\/\">More obituaries<\/a><br \/>Don&rsquo;t miss the best of VTDigger<br \/>By <span class=\"author\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/author\/tiffany-tan\/\" title=\"Posts by Tiffany Tan\" class=\"author url fn\" rel=\"author\">Tiffany Tan<\/a><\/span><br \/> <a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2022\/01\/27\/man-sentenced-to-life-without-parole-could-get-parole-hearing-in-march-under-plea-deal\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Jan 27 2022, 10:19 PMJanuary 28, 2022<\/a><br \/>By <span class=\"author\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/author\/lola-duffort\/\" title=\"Posts by Lola Duffort\" class=\"author url fn\" rel=\"author\">Lola Duffort<\/a><\/span><br \/> <a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2022\/01\/27\/state-leaders-are-preparing-to-spend-200m-on-housing-activists-say-they-want-more\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Jan 27 2022, 8:50 PMJanuary 27, 2022<\/a><br \/>By <span class=\"author\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/author\/lola-duffort\/\" title=\"Posts by Lola Duffort\" class=\"author url fn\" rel=\"author\">Lola Duffort<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/author\/sarah-mearhoff\/\" title=\"Posts by Sarah Mearhoff\" class=\"author url fn\" rel=\"author\">Sarah Mearhoff<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/author\/riley-robinson\/\" title=\"Posts by Riley Robinson\" class=\"author url fn\" rel=\"author\">Riley Robinson<\/a><\/span><br \/> <a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2022\/01\/27\/final-reading-deja-vu\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Jan 27 2022, 8:45 PMJanuary 27, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<p>More commentary<\/a><br \/>By <span class=\"author\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/author\/lola-duffort\/\" title=\"Posts by Lola Duffort\" class=\"author url fn\" rel=\"author\">Lola Duffort<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/author\/sarah-mearhoff\/\" title=\"Posts by Sarah Mearhoff\" class=\"author url fn\" rel=\"author\">Sarah Mearhoff<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/author\/riley-robinson\/\" title=\"Posts by Riley Robinson\" class=\"author url fn\" rel=\"author\">Riley Robinson<\/a><\/span><br \/> <a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2022\/01\/27\/final-reading-deja-vu\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Jan 27 2022, 8:45 PMJanuary 27, 2022<\/a><br \/>By <span class=\"author\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/author\/sarah-mearhoff\/\" title=\"Posts by Sarah Mearhoff\" class=\"author url fn\" rel=\"author\">Sarah Mearhoff<\/a><\/span><br \/> <a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2022\/01\/27\/former-rutland-gop-chair-launches-bid-for-lieutenant-governor\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Jan 27 2022, 7:08 PMJanuary 27, 2022<\/a><br \/>By <span class=\"author\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/author\/ethan-weinstein\/\" title=\"Posts by Ethan Weinstein\" class=\"author url fn\" rel=\"author\">Ethan Weinstein<\/a><\/span><br \/> <a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2022\/01\/27\/vermont-house-advances-hospital-gun-ban-strengthens-background-checks\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Jan 27 2022, 6:42 PMJanuary 27, 2022<\/a><br \/><a href=\"\/category\/politic\/\">More politics<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2022\/01\/27\/facebook-users-lawsuit-claims-vermont-statute-violates-free-speech-rights\/\">source<\/a><\/p>\n<!--CusAds0-->\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Kevin O&#039;Connor Jan 27 2022, 6:17 PMJanuary 27, 2022BRATTLEBORO \u2014 A local Black Lives Matter supporter questioned by police after revealing a critical Facebook commenter to an \u201cexposing every racist\u201d group has filed a lawsuit challenging a state statute that prohibits disturbing the peace by \u201celectronic communications.\u201dBrattleboro resident Isabel Vinson is suing the state [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"googlesitekit_rrm_CAow1sXXCw:productID":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-non-classe"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/monblogeur.tech\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/monblogeur.tech\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/monblogeur.tech\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monblogeur.tech\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monblogeur.tech\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/monblogeur.tech\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2862\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/monblogeur.tech\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monblogeur.tech\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monblogeur.tech\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}