U.S. Supreme Court Declines To Hear Case of Parma Man Who Created Fake Police Facebook Page

U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear case of Parma man who created fake police Facebook page - cleveland.
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Courts and Justice
U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear case of

Parma man who created fake police
Facebook page
Updated: Feb. 21, 2023, 2:08 p.m. | Published: Feb. 21, 2023, 10:03 a.m.
Signed-in
Here's a side-by-side comparison readers
of the Parma now
Police can
Department's official Facebook page, and a parody page
that led to Anthony Novak being charged with
bookmark -- and
stories ultimately
to read later.acquitted of -- a felony.
NEW!
By Adam Ferrise, cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio— The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear the
appeal of a Parma man who sued the city’s police department after officers
arrested him for creating a fake police Facebook page that pilloried the
https://www.cleveland.com/court-justice/2023/02/us-supreme-court-…r-case-of-parma-who-created-fake-parma-police-facebook-page.html Page 1 of 9
U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear case of Parma man who created fake police Facebook page - cleveland.com 2/4/23, 10:13
department.
The high court did not give a reason why it made the decision to decline the case
of Anthony Novak, who was charged in 2016 and later acquitted of crimes
stemming from the Facebook page.
Novak sued the city after his acquittal, arguing the city trampled on his First
Amendment rights to free speech. But the district and appeals courts sided with
Parma, saying that qualified immunity shielded the city from civil liability.
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Qualified immunity allows government officials, including police officers, to avoid

being sued for violating a person’s rights while performing their jobs, so long as
they do so in the scope of their duties.
The Supreme Court’s decision will allow the lower courts’ decisions to stand.
Novak, in a statement sent from his attorneys, said: “The government shouldn’t
be able to arrest you for making a joke at its expense.
“I’m disappointed the Supreme Court won’t consider my case both because I
won’t be able to hold the officers accountable for their violation of my rights, but
also because I worry about what will happen to others who poke fun at the
powerful,” Novak’s statement said.
An outside an attorney for Parma, Richard Rezie, said the Supreme Court
“properly declined” to review the case. He said Novak tried to minimize the
effects of his conduct and that federal judges at the district and appeals courts
found Parma police Capt. Kevin Riley and Det. Thomas Connor “acted
appropriately.”
“The city and its police have consistently maintained that Mr. Novak’s behavior
was not for satirical purposes,” Rezie said in a statement. “Several sites make fun
of the police, and the city and Parma police have always worked with protestors
to protect and ensure their First Amendment rights.”
The case in recent months garnered national attention, particularly after parody
websites — the left-leaning The Onion and right-leaning The Babylon Bee — and
others filed briefs in support of Novak’s case that mixed humor with serious legal
arguments. The documents defended the importance of free speech and people
being allowed to make fun of the government.
Novak’s attorneys, Patrick Jaicomo of the Institute for Justice and Cleveland
attorney Subodh Chandra, criticized the decision for its far-reaching effect on
parody and free speech.
Jaicomo said the ruling essentially means qualified immunity overrides First
Amendment rights in the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which encompasses
Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee.
“Anthony’s Facebook page was the type of government parody that the founders
intended to protect through the First Amendment, which is why The Onion and
The Babylon Bee supported our appeal,” Jaicomo said in a statement. “That
everyday people can see the inside of a jail cell for their jokes on Facebook is yet
another reason why qualified immunity must come to an end.”
Chandra also criticized the decision and said qualified immunity must be
abolished “before we have no rights at all.”
“Now, in our region of the country at least, we must all think twice before we
mock government officials because they can use the excuse that a handful of
people are complaining to seize our possessions, jail us and prosecute us,”
Chandra said. “Officials can then deploy qualified immunity as a defense to any
accountability, and federal courts won’t even send a message to officials to not
abuse rights in the future.”
Stephen van Stempvoort, a Michigan attorney who authored The Onion’s brief,
said in a statement that the decision was disappointing but that he has been
encouraged by the “overwhelmingly positive response to the stance The Onion
took.”
“We are grateful that most people appear to believe that government officials
should not prosecute people who make fun of them,” van Stempvoort said.
Parma police arrested Novak in 2016 shortly after he created a fake police
Facebook page that closely mirrored the look of Parma police’s official page.
The posts skewered the department. One post said Parma was hiring new
officers, but the department strongly encouraged minorities not apply. Another
said Parma police officials were offering abortions.
The page was active for less than a day and received less than 100 followers.
About 10 people called 911 to report the Facebook page. Parma police a few days
later arrested Novak and seized his laptop and cellphone. He spent four days in
jail and was later acquitted at trial of a fourth-degree felony charge of disrupting
public services.
Novak sued, arguing the police violated his right to free speech, and lost in a
ruling from U.S. District Judge Dan Polster. The appellate court also sided with
the city, finding that qualified immunity applied in the case. Novak’s attorneys
appealed, saying the 6th Circuit failed to address the free-speech issues in the
case.
Novak’s attorneys argued the Supreme Court needed to take up the case
because several appeals courts decided similar cases differently. They stressed
that Novak’s rights were clearly trampled.
Parma attorneys argued that the case was a clear-cut case of qualified immunity.
They argued the case was reviewed by city attorneys and several judges before
and after police arrested Novak.
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U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear case of Parma man who created fake police Facebook page - cleveland.

com 2/4/23, 10:13

READY TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS?

Courts and Justice

U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear case of

By Adam Ferrise, cleveland.com

Qualified immunity allows government officials, including police officers, to avoid

Around the Web

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Top 30 Most Beautiful Women in the World

Unsold Senior Cruise Cabins (Take A Look At The Prices)

Why Babbel is so good at teaching people new languages?

Luxury Villas In Dubai: Prices May Surprise You!

What Is The Average Salary For Caregiver Jobs In 2023?

Why Millennials Are Using Their Phones To Learn A Language

Your Regional News Pages

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