Amicus brief on what constitutes parody from America's Finest News Source. The filer's statement of interest INTEREST OF THE AMICUS CURIAE1 The Onion is the world’s leading news publication, offering highly acclaimed, universally revered coverage of breaking national, international, and local news events. Rising from its humble beginnings as a print newspaper in 1756, The Onion now enjoys a daily readership of 4.3 trillion and has grown into the single most powerful and influential organization in human history. In addition to maintaining a towering standard of excellence to which the rest of the industry aspires, The Onion supports more than 350,000 full- and parttime journalism jobs in its numerous news bureaus and manual labor camps stationed around the world, and members of its editorial board have served with distinction in an advisory capacity for such nations as China, Syria, Somalia, and the former Soviet Union. On top of its journalistic pursuits, The Onion also owns and operates the majority of the world’s transoceanic shipping lanes, stands on the nation’s leading edge on matters of deforestation and strip mining, and proudly conducts tests on millions of animals daily. The Onion’s keen, fact-driven reportage has been cited favorably by one or more local courts, as well as Iran and the Chinese state-run media. Along the way, 1 No counsel for any party authored this brief in whole or in part, and no counsel or party made a monetary contribution intended to fund the preparation or submission of this brief. Timely notice of the intent to file this amicus brief was provided to all parties, and all parties have consented to the filing of this brief.
Worth noting that the facts of this case are galling. The cops arrested the plaintiff for creating a Facebook page that parodied the police department. Prosecutors tried to have him convicted of a crime. A jury acquitted him. He then sued the cops for violating his constitutional rights. And the federal courts granted the cops immunity. Ridiculous and a great example of how out of control qualified immunity is.
Good point. Your point is well taken about how absurd and inhumane the applications of qualified immunity are. But man that brief was funny
Thanks for sharing. I love reading cheeky briefs. Usually it's the court that gets to have all the fun.
