Humbach on Sexting and the First Amendment

Sexting - a word that is becoming part of our vocabulary; a behavior most common among teenagers; a growing phenomena.  But what exactly is sexting?  Oxford Dictionary online does not have a readily available definition yet, so I turned to online Wikipedia.

Sexting is the act of sending sexually explicit messages or photographs, primarily between mobile phones. [Wikipedia]

To learn more, please join Prof. John Humbach and Prof. Bridget Crawford, both from Pace Law School, as they discuss the implications of sexting and the First Amendment in the library's recent podcast titled Humbach on "Sexting" and the First Amendment. Prof. Humbach, in his article, "Sexting" and the First Amendment, writes that "[g]iven the reality of changing social practices, mores, and technology utilization, today's pornography laws are a trap for unwary teens and operate, in effect, to criminalize a large fraction of America's young people."

Article Citation
John Humbach, "Sexting" and the First Amendment, 37 Hastings Const. L. Q. 433 (2010).

To view and listen to more of our podcasts, click here.

Honking Your Car Horn ≠ Free Speech

The Seattle Times reports on a Washington State woman who challenged a noise ordinance that prohibited prolonged honking of a car horn on First Amendment grounds, and lost. The defendant argued that the ordinance was "vague, overbroad and interfered with her right to free speech." She had been charged with violating the noise ordinance for parking in front of a neighbor's house and leaning on the horn for 10 minutes at 6:00 AM, leaving, and coming back an hour later to do it again.

The Washington Court of Appeals held that

Horn honking which is done to annoy or harass others is not speech.

The case is State v. Immelt, No. 60991-2-I (Wash. Ct. App. 2009).