The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), together with the group’s Ohio chapter, has filed a proposed amicus transient supporting Afroman in a civil lawsuit introduced in opposition to him by seven law enforcement officials who’re upset the hip hop artist used footage of their marijuana raid on his house in a music video.
Afroman, whose actual title is Joseph E. Foreman, was sued final month by members of the Adams County, Ohio Sheriff’s Workplace who performed a 2022 search of his home that focused “unknown portions of marijuana” and “paraphernalia used for the sale and administration of medication” in addition to suspicion of “kidnapping”—however which finally resulted in solely hint quantities of hashish being discovered.
The musician later used footage captured by house safety cameras of police exercise in a video for a track he wrote concerning the incident, titled, “Will You Assist Me Restore My Door.” The officers didn’t take kindly to that, nevertheless, and sued Foreman for utilizing their likenesses for business functions, claiming they suffered “humiliation, ridicule, psychological misery, embarrassment and lack of repute.”
Along with Foreman being named within the civil lawsuit, 5 different entities that reportedly assist market and distribute the Afroman model had been additionally listed as defendants. The officers are searching for damages and injunctive aid, and the primary listening to for the case is at the moment scheduled for Thursday, which is the unofficial hashish vacation 4/20.
The civil case touches on a number of authorized questions pertaining to the First Modification and the harms of marijuana prohibition enforcement.
Together with @ACLUOhio, we’re asking the court docket to dismiss this case – and we all know why.
It is with out benefit and was designed to intimidate @OGAfroman into silence, and get the court docket to order him to cease criticizing the police.
— ACLU (@ACLU) April 19, 2023
Afroman rose to prominence within the early 2000s after his hit single “As a result of I Received Excessive” debuted and shortly bought over 1.5 million copies. The incident on the coronary heart of the civil lawsuit occurred on August twenty first, 2022, when Afroman’s house was subjected to a SWAT raid pursuant to a search warrant.
New Tonight: ONLY ON @FOX19 at 10p now we have the search warrant executed on the property of AfroMan. pic.twitter.com/JYWdf4s03P
— Ken Baker (@KenBakerTV) August 31, 2022
Afroman was not at house on the time of the incident, however his spouse was inside the house and captured photos and photographs of the raid on her mobile phone. The residence was additionally geared up with house surveillance cameras that recorded footage of the officers conducting the raid.
In the end, the officers solely discovered hint quantities of marijuana and $5,031 in money, and no fees had been ever filed. The money was confiscated upon suspicion that it was the proceeds from drug trafficking. It was returned months later, nevertheless, initially the returned sum of money was reportedly lacking $400 regardless of being contained in luggage that had been “each sealed previous to the counting course of.” A subsequent audit of physique cam footage determined that the lacking cash was the results of a “miscount.”
In Afroman’s music movies, he is taking his flip commenting concerning the officers’ actions in the midst of their official duties, which is protected speech.
The truth that he makes cash doing it modifications nothing.
— ACLU (@ACLU) April 19, 2023
As alleged within the authentic lawsuit’s court filing, “After the search was concluded, Foreman used parts of the recordings of the search from his spouse’s cellphone and his surveillance cameras to create music movies concerning the search.”
“These music movies clearly painting the photographs, likenesses, and distinctive appearances (‘personas’), of lots of the officers concerned within the search, together with these of all Plaintiffs,” the submitting argues.
The officers allege that Afroman posted content material on-line on Instagram and YouTube no less than a dozen occasions, and “created, carried out, posted, and publicized these and different depictions of Plaintiff’s personas for business functions with out the authorization of any of the Plaintiffs to take action.”
Along with the content material posted on-line, the Plaintiffs allege that Afroman created and bought merchandise depicting a few of the officers. (Full disclosure: I personally ordered three of the t-shirts from Afroman’s website, together with one that’s autographed by Afroman himself.)
The entire plaintiffs within the lawsuit are officers employed by the Adams County Sheriff’s Workplace in West Union, Ohio, together with 4 deputies, two sergeants and a detective. The criticism alleges that they “have suffered damages, together with all earnings derived from and attributable to Defendants’ unauthorized use of Plaintiff’s personas, and have suffered humiliation, ridicule, psychological misery, embarrassment, and lack of repute.”
The ACLU disagrees in its proposed amicus brief, filed on Wednesday, describing the officers’ lawsuit as, “a traditional entry into the SLAPP go well with style” and “a meritless effort to make use of a lawsuit to silence criticism.”
Let’s nip this within the bud. Afroman’s speech is protected by the First Modification.
On the eve of #420 It’s excessive time for police to cease suing residents for unflattering commentary about them. https://t.co/XfuZImM0LW
— ACLU of Ohio (@acluohio) April 19, 2023
“Plaintiffs are a bunch of regulation enforcement officers who executed what seems to have been a extremely harmful and finally fruitless search of a well-liked musician’s house,” the amicus submitting states. “Now they discover discover themselves on the receiving finish of his mockery and outrage, expressed by means of music movies concerning the search, in addition to spinoff merchandise and social media commentary.”
“On the granular degree, the Grievance is an try to shoehorn the details right into a sequence of torts meant for functions aside from Plaintiffs’, and it fails just because it doesn’t present allegations that might fulfill the requisite parts of any declare,” it continues. “Conceptually, their allegations run afoul of a a lot deeper precept: There’s nothing the First Modification protects extra jealously than criticism of public officers on a matter of public concern.”
The unique lawsuit submitting from the officers calls for a jury trial and lists 5 counts in opposition to the defendants. They’re demanding “the quantity of earnings made by Defendants” for allegedly utilizing the Plaintiff’s personas with out authorization, in addition to injunctive aid and “different cures” which can be “in extra of $25,000.”
Nonetheless, the ACLU argues in its amicus transient that there are a number of authorized deficiencies within the authentic submitting, together with that, “Plaintiffs don’t establish the substances of any specific assertion within the videos-or for that matter, wherever else-that they declare is fake.”
“As an alternative, the central focus of their criticism is that Mr. Foreman is making a living off of his video commentary and associated merchandise, and is criticizing Plaintiffs harshly within the course of,” ACLU stated. “That isn’t tortious conduct: it’s protected free speech.”
In response to the preliminary court docket submitting, Afroman participated in a sequence of media interviews through which he indicated that he can be submitting a countersuit.
“I need to sue them for stealing my cash, I need to sue them for writing ‘kidnapping’ on a warrant and making me endure financially in my trade as a result of simply that accusation makes individuals elevate an eyebrow about you,” Afroman stated in keeping with NPR.
Photograph parts courtesy of rawpixel and Philip Steffan.
The put up ACLU Defends Afroman In Lawsuit From Police Who Are Upset He Used Footage Of Their Marijuana Raid On His House In Music Video appeared first on Marijuana Second.