糖心Vlog

In March of this year, Peoria resident Jon Daniel set up a satire Twitter account using the name of the town鈥檚 elected mayor, Jim Ardis. Using slang and swearwords, Daniel then tweeted a series of jokes. No one in their right mind would have thought this naughty, unprofessional account was actually that of the elected Mayor. That鈥檚 why it was funny.

So, Mayor Ardis reacted just as you鈥檇 expect: he leant back, belly-laughed, and went on with his day. Er, no. , he got the account suspended by threatening Twitter with legal action; ordered the city manager to use the police to track down the account owner鈥檚 identity; told the chief of police he wanted to prosecute; and urged the police on to a raid on Mr. Daniel鈥檚 home, resulting in his arrest and detention and the seizure of his computer, laptop, and XBOX.

Wow.

Here鈥檚 what Ardis somehow overlooked when he swore his oath to uphold the U.S Constitution. We have a rich tradition of parody and satire in this country, protected fully by our glorious First Amendment. And Twitter offers a broad public platform perfect for carrying on this tradition.

For example, you might suspect that the feed isn鈥檛 being tweeted from Fort Meade when it shares such 鈥渘on-classified information鈥� as the identity of the American with the largest porn collection. Or that when recasts Guns n鈥� Roses lyrics with royal pronouns (鈥渢ake One down to the Paradise City鈥︹��) she might not be The Actual Queen. Or when says he鈥檚 鈥渢he reason Waldo is hiding,鈥濃��well, wait. That might actually be Chuck Norris.

The people who run these accounts aren鈥檛 criminals. They鈥檙e humorists. And this isn鈥檛 up for debate. When the Supreme Court鈥攏ot generally known for its light take on life鈥攚as asked whether Hustler magazine had the right to feature a fake confession from the Reverend Jerry Falwell about losing his virginity to his mother in an outhouse, it wasn鈥檛 a tough question. Undignified, maybe, but easy. in favor of Hustler鈥檚 right to parody the famous preacher without facing civil or criminal penalties.

So here鈥檚 the rub: we have a constitutionally protected right to make fun of people who place themselves squarely in the public eye. You just don鈥檛 get to run for president and then throw people who mock you in jail. . Or, apparently, Mayor Ardis seems to think, Peoria.

So what鈥檚 to be done for Mr. Daniel, who鈥檚 had his life, and literally his house, turned upside-down in response to protected speech? Thankfully, the 糖心Vlogis here to remind the self-important autocrats in Peoria about those pesky constitutional limits on their authority to jail people whose jokes don鈥檛 make them laugh.

This week, the 糖心Vlogof Illinois filed a on behalf of Mr. Daniel, seeking to hold 鈥淐ity officials accountable for violating his First and Fourth Amendment rights by responding to a parody account spoofing the Mayor by launching a manhunt for the account's author.鈥� This suit represents the steadfast defense of the right to free speech, a free and open internet, and ultimately, richer and more humorous public discourse.

It鈥檚 sad that a joke has gone this far, and that nothing but a lawsuit will remedy the ridiculously overblown and unconstitutional response of Ardis and his cronies. But I guess the pompous politicians of Peoria have done one nice thing: produce a whole lot of additional fodder for well-deserved parody. Since the @PeoriaMayor feed was suspended, perhaps I鈥檒l have to take up the mantle; this time, in the guise of Mayor Ardis鈥� new role, Direktor of the Illinois Ministry of Truth. (Come at me, Ardis. Please.)

As the saying doesn鈥檛 go: sue 鈥榚m if they can鈥檛 take a joke.