Last year, we explained how the First Amendment affects bloggers. The laws and decisions that go into protecting bloggers may also affect rights regarding the first amendment and social media postings.
You may have encountered virulent arguments on social media about topics that should not have provoked that type of reaction. At some point, you or someone else may be accused of and reported for promoting “hate speech.” Maybe you just stated an opinion, and someone shot back an inflammatory comment. Does First Amendment cover you?
Defining hate speech
“Hate speech” isn’t a legal term, but is one used to describe speech that’s intended to attack or demean another individual or group. This type of speech is usually based on characteristics that are illegal to use for discrimination, such as race, sex, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, or age.
Hate speech has also come to mean any type of comment that another individual does not agree with, even if it’s not specifically insulting or demeaning.
Simply hurling insults at someone is offensive, but not against the law. But hate crimes, targeting someone because of the above characteristics, are a matter of criminal law, not civil.
What is social media?
Websites, apps and other forms of electronic communication allow people to communicate and share content in real time. Most people are familiar with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, and similar websites, as well as professional networking site Linkedin. Depending on the platform, you can disseminate any type of information to your friends, private groups or the user community at large.
When a post, picture, or other piece of content “goes viral,” it’s shared widely and occasionally appears in broadcast media. This can be anything from a cute cat video to a vicious diatribe targeting a group of individuals, and anything in between. With a combined social media user community in the billions, one share can put your post in front of the entire world in the blink of an eye.
While many social media users share pictures of whatever they’re doing, eating, drinking, or watching, hate groups use the same medium to disseminate their own messages. This is where the First Amendment and social media come into play.
The difference between the First Amendment and social media
Hate groups from all over the world have routinely used social media to spread their message, recruiting and bringing more people into their fold. The recent attack on a German synagogue was live-streamed on Twitch by the shooter wearing a helmet camera. But it wasn’t the first time social media has been used to broadcast such an event.
While the First Amendment protects your right to say what’s on your mind in a public forum, social media is a different matter. The platforms might be a public forum, but are privately owned by companies that issue their own policies for what you can and can’t say there.
For instance: standing in the public square and shouting insults will upset people of that you’re targeting, but the comments are constitutionally protected. However, threats of and encouraging violence, the so-called “fighting words,” are not constitutionally protected, and may also get you arrested.
Platform policies
Making the same comments on social media may be First Amendment protected, but may violate the platform’s “community standards.” This means that although your comments are constitutionally protected, the platform itself does not have to allow you to say it on their “premises.”
It’s akin to saying something insulting to someone in their own home. You can say it on the sidewalk, but they don’t have to allow you in to say it in the privacy of their living room. By the same token, social media companies have the right to tell you that you can’t say that on their privately owned platform. Users are allowed to “flag” comments that they believe to be hate speech, but flags are also used in retaliation for benign comments that someone simply disagreed with. This makes it more difficult to find true hate speech and combat it.
While social media companies have broad powers to restrict hate speech in their platforms, their capacity is lacking to catch and control everything that violates their community standards.
Have you been accused of hate speech?
Call the Civil Rights Litigation Group at (720) 515-6165, or use our online contact form, to schedule your free consultation with us today. As a civil rights defense firm, we will work to ensure that your civil rights are defended and protected.
Getting older is fraught with different issues, such as health and finances. But one of the most difficult to deal with is the one form of discrimination nobody wants to talk about: ageism, or age discrimination.
Ageism and age discrimination
Discrimination against individuals based solely on their age is all but accepted and acceptable, especially in the workplace. Terms like geezer, senior citizen, and other derogatory terms along with unflattering media images enforce the negative stereotyping that comes with getting older.
Mark Zuckerberg once stated, “Younger people are smarter.” But is it true?
Stereotypes, learned ageism, and other factors have kept organizations like the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) working to protect the rights of individuals over the age of 40 from being ignored and violated. In Colorado, the unemployment rate is one of the country’s lowest, one third of the state’s population is over the age of 50. But it hasn’t stopped anyone from being subjected to ageism, even in a labor market that’s hiring.
Incorrect stereotypes are partly responsible. Misconceptions about older workers include:
They’re not up on new technology, including smartphones, can’t use it and are afraid of it
They’re not willing to learn and accept change
They can’t keep up with younger workers
They’re sickly, unhealthy and have lots of health problems.
But studies into modern aging show that these are incorrect. Workers over 50 are more engaged, have greater levels of experience and low turnover rates. There are other benefits to hiring older workers as opposed to someone who just graduated from high school or college as well, like reliability.
That still doesn’t help when you find yourself terminated or unemployed over 50 and unable to find another job.
Age discrimination in Colorado
More than 20% of all workers in the US are over the age of 55, more than 33 million people.
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) makes it illegal for private employers and governmental agencies to discriminate against workers over the age of 40.
Colorado also has its own Anti-Discrimination Act prohibiting ageism and discrimination as well as other factors. However, federal anti-discrimination laws includes employers with 15 or more employees. Colorado’s civil rights statute includes all employers, regardless of size or number of employees.
While it most often is inflicted by supervisors or managers, age-related comments by any employees that create a hostile work environment can be considered age discrimination and/or harassment.
The AARP reports that 1 in 5 claims made to the EEOC are specifically for age discrimination. Individuals born between 1946 through 1964, the so called “baby boomers,” are the fastest growing group filing these claims.
The AARP also reports that nearly 66% of older adults have either experienced or witnessed ageism and discrimination in the workplace.
Lack of employment is one of the biggest indicators of age discrimination in Colorado and nationally: although it is still legal for an employer to ask your birth date or date of graduation, it’s not legal to use it in a hiring decision. Still, job seekers over 50 are routinely not hired, passed over for promotion, or outright laid off and/or fired.
Age discrimination can happen at any age
Ageism and discrimination isn’t always about someone over 50 — it can also happen to women of childbearing age.
Refusing to hire women who “are able to get pregnant” is not only age discrimination, it’s also a form of gender discrimination. It’s also illegal to fire a female due to her pregnancy.
How can I fight back?
If your employer asks you to sign an ADEA waiver, speak to an attorney before you do.
You can fight against age discrimination, but it is a long, arduous fight. You can file an EEOC claim, but before you do, consider talking with a Denver, CO civil rights attorney who specializes in age discrimination.
Proving age discrimination can be difficult. The Civil Rights Litigation Group is dedicated to ensuring that every Colorado resident is protected from discrimination and other civil rights violations. Call today for your free consultation, or use our online contact form to schedule your appointment.
A police officer stops you after you didn’t see a stop sign. He asks for your license and registration (or insurance.) You comply with the officer, but a few minutes later, drug-sniffing dogs are inside and around your car. What brought this on? Is it illegal search and seizure?
What is illegal search and seizure?
In simple terms, it means a search and seizure conducted by law enforcement with neither probable cause that a crime is being committed or a warrant to conduct the search.
This type of behavior is illegal under the Fourth Amendment, which protects American citizens from improper or illegal search and seizure.
Additionally, any evidence that’s gathered from an illegal search and seizure is not admissible in court, under a doctrine known as “Fruit Of The Poisonous Tree.” Under the decision in Mapp Vs. Ohio, 347 U.S. 643 (1961), evidence gathered during an unconstitutional search is inadmissible in a state court criminal trial.
You can inform officers that if they do not have probable cause or a warrant, you do not consent to a search. If your car was searched by drug-sniffing dogs without your consent and they found something, without a warrant and no probable cause they may have committed an illegal search and seizure. Anything that was found in the process will not be accepted into evidence in court.
The Fourth Amendment
This simply stated part of the Constitution says that:
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
A search, and any evidence collected from it, must have probable cause. If your home is searched, law enforcement are also required to have a warrant to perform a search. There are procedures that must be followed once a warrant is issued.
If the police show up without a warrant and ask to search your home, you can ask for a warrant to be issued first, and decline to consent to a search without one. A warrantless search could lead to procedures not being properly followed.
Warning: even if you state loudly that you do not consent to a search but the officer proceeds to search you anyway, do not resist. You could be charged with obstruction, assaulting a police officer, or other charges. But if the search is illegal, your attorney can file a motion to suppress, which will stop any evidence from the search from being introduced into court. You may also have a right to a civil court remedy as a result of the illegal search.
A search warrant does not give law enforcement the right to arrest you. They may gather any evidence in plain sight, and may look to see where you are hiding. However, if they gather enough evidence, they can arrest you based on that evidence.
The warrant and illegal search and seizure
This document must contain:
The judge’s name
Your name
Your address
The name of the agency conducting the search or arrest
Descriptions of items that are being sought
An officer is not required to have the warrant on hand, but if he or she does, under Colorado law they must show it to you upon request. If an officer removes property from your home, he or she must give you a receipt for the property as well as a copy of the warrant.
Note that you do have the right to remain silent and not answer questions. Should they threaten to get a warrant, insist that they do so. They will have to go to court to get it, and may or may not be successful. However, if you consent to a search, they won’t have to get court permission.
If law enforcement insists on doing a search anyway, remain calm, do not interfere, and begin taking notes immediately. If someone is with you, ask them to witness the unconsented search. Record:
Names
Badge numbers
Law enforcement agency or agencies involved
Any other relevant information
Call a civil rights defense attorney immediately.
Section 1983
This section of US law (42 U.S. Code, Section 1983) addresses the abuse of the legal system to deprive another person of their civil rights, and allows people to sue the government for any civil rights violations.
For this section to be used, the defendant must have acted “under color of,” in a specific jurisdiction. That is, the individual was acting in his or her capacity as a representative of a governmental entity. A police officer generally does, whether patrolling or performing a search and/or arrest. Police who use excessive force generally come under Section 1983.
It is possible to sue for damages incurred during an illegal search and seizure, if you were arrested. You can sue for property damage, pain and suffering, lost wages and other expenses as well as attorney’s fees
Defend your rights — call today
If you’ve been a victim of an illegal search and seizure, defend yourself. Get a lawyer who is experienced in civil rights violations and Section 1983.
Call the Civil Rights Litigation Group at (720) 515-6165, or use our online contact form, to schedule your free consultation with us today. We understand civil rights cases, and aggressively defend you in court and make sure your rights are protected.
It happens sometimes that people are arrested for reasons they don’t understand. You’ve done nothing wrong, but there you are, sitting in the back of a police car (not resisting arrest), and you’re not sure why. It happens more often than you think, and the ACLU has stepped in to assist hundreds of people like Valerie Rodriguez, a lady unlucky enough to have the same name as someone else who committed a crime. A police officer who failed to do the proper research facilitated the arrest of an innocent woman instead of one that caused harm.
Police officers may be quick to make an arrest if they believe you aren’t complying with their request. Unfortunately, even catchall charges like disorderly conduct and resisting arrest are up to the officer’s discretion. Even not acting fast enough when the officer tells you something can be “resisting arrest,” giving an officer free reign. If you’re innocent of the disorderly conduct but tried to resist arrest, that second charge may stick when you go to court. An officer’s report may be written to indicate that you have broken the law, when in fact, they may be covering up their own mistakes.
Last year we discussed false arrest and the civil rights violations that it could bring. But even if it’s a false arrest or other mistake, is resisting arrest the right thing to do?
Resisting arrest is a misdemeanor in Colorado
Interfering with a police officer’s duties and preventing him from making an arrest constitutes resisting arrest. This is true whether the individual is innocent of any charges or not.
If you do resist being arrested in Denver, CO, and you are innocent of the original charge, you’ll still be charged with resisting arrest under 18-8-103 (1) C.R.S, which is a Class 2 misdemeanor. You could face fines of up to $1,000 and as much as a year in jail.
Defenses against resisting arrest
There are defenses against this charge:
Self-defense, in which the individual intends to protect himself or herself against an assault by a police officer
In defense of another individual
The police officer is acting as a private person and not in his or her official capacity as a law enforcement officer
The police officer uses excessive force when it isn’t warranted
However, unlawful or false arrest are not defenses; you’ll need to fight this kind of charge in court.
If you are arrested for resisting arrest in Denver, CO
The safest way to proceed is to go along with the officer, do not resist, and give them no additional information beyond your name. State that you would like to answer any other questions in the presence of an attorney. Anything you say to the police, even before they read your Miranda Rights to you, can be used against you in court. Therefore, make no statements to anyone involved, including the police, without the presence of an attorney at your side.
Once you’ve been freed from jail, find an attorney who will not only defend you from the charge of resisting arrest, but demonstrate that you were, in fact, innocent of the original charge for which you were being arrested.
Defend your rights with a Colorado civil rights attorney
Most charges of resisting arrest are defensible. If a prosecutor offers you a plea bargain, you’ll still have a criminal conviction on your record. To avoid conviction, it’s best to take your case into a jury trial. That’s where a civil rights attorney can help.
If you or someone you know has been charged with resisting arrest and is innocent of charges, get the legal help you need immediately. Call the Civil Rights Litigation Group at (720) 515-6165, or use our online contact form, to schedule your free consultation with us today. We’ll fight to help you clear your name against false arrests and other over-reaching actions by police.
Filing a lawsuit for any kind of discrimination is a difficult decision that isn’t taken lightly. Age discrimination is particularly difficult, and can have long-term ramifications. Age discrimination is personal. You’ve worked hard for a long time and have a lot of years of good experience. But suddenly, after your 40th (or 50th) birthday, you wake up and realize you’re not working there anymore. You may have a very difficult time finding a new job, especially after 50. What happened?
Age discrimination
With more employees shunning retirement and working longer, age discrimination is becoming more common in companies both large and small. The EEOC reports that age discrimination complaints are increasing. From 1997 through 2007, there were less than 20,000 filings per year.
In 2008, however, the number of filings increased from 23,000 to 25,000 per year. That’s just the people who filed a complaint — without a report, there are likely more cases of age discrimination that no one knows about. In Colorado alone, there were 370 age discrimination complaints filed in 2018. By comparison, California recorded 1,062, and Texas recorded 1,744.
So why do older people find themselves unemployed after a long, successful career? There are a number of misconceptions about “older workers,” including:
They can’t deal with technology (i.e., computers, smartphones, conference calls, etc.)
Their health insurance costs more, because after 50 they have more health problems
They don’t need a job because they’re so close to retirement
They cost more in wages and salaries, so it’s fiscally prudent to lay them off and hire younger, less expensive workers.
However, older workers tend to be more reliable than younger workers, but are generally targeted first in a reduction in force.
While employers are quite sneaky about hiding their age-discrimination tendencies, there are occasions where they make missteps, such as asking about your retirement, or making disparaging comments to younger employees about a worker over 40. That’s when you may decide to file a complaint with the EEOC, and follow with an age discrimination lawsuit.
Collecting evidence for age discrimination
If you’re finding yourself the target of such comments or treatment, document everything. For instance, if your boss asks you about your retirement plans, or makes other disparaging remarks, keep a record of the time, date, and any witnesses who heard it. Follow up with an email to him or her thanking him for his concern, and that you currently have no plans to retire, that you enjoy your work. Print and file copies of these types of emails and other documents.
If you were told about such comments by another employee that were not made in your presence, document that as well, including the individual who told you.
Gather copies of all of your performance reviews, especially reviews that demonstrate your good work record and performance. If your reviews have abruptly changed after years of doing well, your previous good reviews will be a strong contrast.
Watch how younger employees are treated in relation to older employees, whether it’s work-related, promotion related, firing or layoff related, or how they are treated in the same circumstances as someone over 40. If you find a pattern of age-related bias, begin keeping records of these individuals and how they were treated differently than those under 35 or 40. This is especially true in disciplinary cases.
Favoritism towards younger employees, such as work assignments, sales leads, meetings, promotions and other patterns may also indicate discrimination. This should also be documented, even if the supervisor is “over a certain age.”
After a period of good performance reviews, if you suddenly find yourself with negative reviews, write-ups or other disciplinary actions, there’s a good chance you are being targeted. The goal is to either find a way to fire you or to get you to quit. Again, documentation is key to proving your case in an age discrimination lawsuit.
The hearing
Whether you are in a hearing with the Colorado Civil Rights Division (CCRD) or EEOC, or a court hearing, you’ll be asked questions by a well-equipped defense counsel. While you are there to prove disparate treatment and disparate impact, they are ready to disprove your claims of age discrimination.
You’ll be required to prove that you are in a protected class (over 40) and are qualified to do your job, but that you suffered an adverse action in your employment and were treated differently than employees who were under 40. Expect pointed questions from both your own attorney, and by your employer’s attorney. You’ll be asked about your training, qualifications, and other relevant questions that are intended to disprove your claim.
Your employer will then be required to prove that the action was not discriminatory, and the action had a legitimate reason, and was for a reason other than age. While a requirement to lift 50+ pounds occasionally might be reasonable for some jobs, they could be used to discriminate against individuals where such a requirement wouldn’t be necessary.
Should this be proven, at this point, the burden of proof is yours to show that the action was a pretext and in fact, discriminatory. Working with an age discrimination attorney will help you prove your case successfully to increase your chance of winning your case and having a settlement.
Your Denver civil rights attorney
Being fired or laid off because of your age, even when hidden by another reason, is age discrimination and against the law. Get help with your case before you file a complaint. Call the Civil Rights Litigation Group at (720) 515-6165, or use our online contact form, to schedule your free consultation with us today. We’ll aggressively defend you in court and make sure your rights are protected and you are treated fairly.
