from Hacker News

Brief of the Onion as Amicus Curiae in Support of Petitioner [pdf]

by jeff_tyrrill on 10/3/22, 6:54 PM with 11 comments

  • by robinhouston on 10/3/22, 11:24 PM

    This is so brilliant because it's funny and persuasive, and the fact that it's funny is essential to what makes it persuasive. Just a wonderful piece of self-referential writing, that also serves a serious purpose.

  • by pyuser583 on 10/4/22, 4:36 AM

    I’ve been reading the Onion since it was a local paper in the early 90s.

    It used to be a lot more edgy. And cynical.

    I guess you can’t take risks once you’ve achieved a certain amount of fame.

  • by mitchbob on 10/4/22, 11:27 AM

  • by dominotw on 10/4/22, 1:20 PM

    > In 2016, Anthony Novak was arrested for making a Facebook page that parodied the local police page.

    > He was charged with disrupting a public service

    > sets dangerous precedent undermining free speech

    Is this different from FBI reaching out directly to facebook and making them remove content. Mark admitted that FB was(is?) guided by the FBI on their content policy. I find that more insidious and 'dangerous' than the case above. I find it even more surprising that there is no commotion about this.

  • by chernevik on 10/4/22, 7:02 PM

    This is one of those things I wish I could write.

    Persuasive, funny, well-reasoned, learned -- absolutely amazing.

  • by ars on 10/4/22, 3:48 AM

    I really want to believe that the lawyers legally changed their last names in order to sound funnier.

  • by cafard on 10/4/22, 12:45 AM

    The clerks must appreciate a change from their usual heavy reading.

  • by euroderf on 10/4/22, 6:42 AM

    In their newly-majoritarian efforts to be intellectually absurd, the conservative justices have met their match. Let freedom ring!