THE GREATEST BRIEF EVER FILED

⚖ Should Novak win? ☕ Find out on Morning Brew for free: legaleagle.link/morningbrew

People should know that the Supreme Court denied hearing Novak's case Feb 2023. "Feb 21 2023 Petition DENIED." That's it. Justice died early this time. "like" this even if you don't like it so other people know.

Parodist: "lol this department is racist and incompetent as HELL" The actual department: "This is too close to the truth to be allowed!"

Got to give The Onion credit for finding a legal team that would make it sound like they made up the names of their legal team.

"Ignorance isn't a defense unless you're a cop" is terrifying & a perfect example of why we don't trust them

“Ignorance is no excuse for breaking the law.” -Police “I didn’t know I couldn’t do that.” -Also Police.

"They searched for a crime to fit the situation..." is a chilling off-the-cuff remark.

- Cops thought this might have been illegal, at first glance: Yeah sure whatever - Cops thought it merited a SWAT raid: WTF mate - A court granted that warrant: WTF mate - The police confiscated his gaming consoles: WTF mate - Jury acquitted him: OK good, brief moment of sanity - Magistrate sided with the cops on balance of probability: WTF mate - Appellate court upheld that decision: WTF mate Hell of an indictment of the US judicial system, gotta say. An AP article about this case would be indistinguishable from Onion satire.

They were mad that they got eleven phone calls and "tied up a bunch of their time". Wonder how much time they spent raiding his house, doing surveillance, trying to figure out what to charge him with, taking up a magistrates time and the list goes on. Violate someones rights then hide behind qualified immunity. What an absolute joke. Disband the entire department.

I love the irony of qualified immunity being the exact flip side of the “ignorance of the law is no defense” coin. Wait, no, actually I hate it

Parody page: "Hey all you pedos, we're ganna wipe your record and make you police officers!" Parma cops: "Thats wayyyyy to close to what we would actually post, this is illegal!"

It's kinda funny how the police department has to argue that a post about hiring convicted pedophiles as police officers, and another one about not hiring PoC are close enough to the truth, that a reasonable person wouldn't neccessarily understand it as parody.

on Feb 21 2023, the U.S. Extreme Court refused to hear the appeal from Anthony Novak, who was jailed for four days and charged with a felony for making a satirical Facebook page of his local police department. This leaves in place the lower court ruling that shielded the police officers and the city of Parma, Ohio from legal liability for their actions. Antidote: mock them more.

This entire case feels like the cops got mad for being made fun of and are just taking it out on the dude however they can

A small correction: A Modest Proposal didn't suggest that the poor should eat their own babies; it suggested that they should sell their babies to the rich as food.

I can somewhat understand if the police department tried to sue him, but the fact that they raided his house and arrested him like some sort of drug lord is insane to me. Ironically, this type of story is EXACTLY something that would seem like a parody if it wasn't true - "SWAT team arrests man for making fun of them". This is the type of headline that you could see on The Onion, but unfortunately it is real life...

For anyone watching this now and interested: The supreme court did not take the case and let the ruling of the lower court stand. This is concerning

I applaud the Onion for defending the time-honored Cleveland tradition of making fun of Parma.

I was an English teacher. We studied "A Modest Proposal." A few days later a parent lodged a protest that I was teaching cannibalism. I have seen The Onion's power first hand.

“Searched for a crime to fit the situation” That right there is the point where they should have been fired. On the spot, immediately. Not even a second thought. Someone that petty should not be in a position of power where they can ruin someone’s life over hurt feelings.