Woman Convicted for Mass-Mailing Sexual Misconduct Accusations About Former Teacher
From State v. Scatton, decided Jan. 30 by Judge Carl Taylor of the Connecticut Supreme Court, New Britain Jud. Dist. It seems pretty clearly wrong to me, but part of a broader trend in which states are reviving criminal libel through criminal harassment or cyberstalking laws (and without even a requirement that the prosecution show the allegations were false). More broadly, whether or not the concern is about reputation, it’s part of a trend of using criminal harassment laws and harassment restraining orders to punish speech about a person rather than unwanted speech to the person; when that’s challenged on First Amendment grounds, appellate courts generally uphold the First Amendment claim, but strange things can happen in trial court:
JG indicated that the defendant, Annette Scatton, was a former student who had been harassing him since 2018. JG indicated that Scatton had been sending harassing letters to funeral directors statewide.
“TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN,
[JG], PROGRAM DIRECTOR OF FUNERAL SERVICE IN CONNECTICUT IS HAVING SEX WITH HIS MALE STUDENTS. ONE OF THE STUDENTS IS GAVIN DEMAURO.
IN ADDITION, HE IS SEXUALLY ACTIVE WITH MANY MEN IN THE FIELD OF FUNERAL SERVICE IN THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT. PLEASE – BE AWARE. HE IS EXTREMELY DECEITFUL AND DANGEROUS.”
JG indicated to APD that he believed that the perpetrator was An
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