Legal Features

Revenge Porn: Read TRI's Letter to the Rhode Island House of Representatives.

Weighing in on a controversial “revenge porn” bill before the Rhode Island General Assembly, The Rutherford Institute has joined with other civil liberties groups in warning legislators that the proposed law, H-7537, is so overly broad and vague that it could do more harm than good by criminalizing legitimate First Amendment activities aimed at holding government officials accountable for wrongdoing.

Specifically, Institute attorneys point out that the legislation criminalizes the dissemination of images that have political and social importance but do not constitute “revenge porn” (such as the Abu Ghraib photographs), and endangers the right of citizens to confidently expose misconduct by representatives that might involve the dissemination of explicit material (such as government officials engaging in sexting).

Click here to read The Rutherford Institute's letter to the Rhode Island House of Representatives.