Justices reject appeal from man arrested for spoofing police

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal, backed by the satirical site The Onion, from a man who was arrested and prosecuted for making fun of police on social media.

The justices on Tuesday left in place a lower court ruling against Anthony Novak, who was arrested after he spoofed the Parma, Ohio, police force in Facebook posts.

After his acquittal on criminal charges, Novak sued the police for violating his constitutional rights. But a federal appeals court ruled the officers have “qualified immunity” and threw out the lawsuit.

The Onion filed its brief in defense of parody. Its lawyers wrote that the First Amendment protects people from prosecution when they make fun of others.

"The Onion’s writers also have a self-serving interest in preventing political authorities from imprisoning humorists,” the site's lawyers wrote in a brief filed in October. “This brief is submitted in the interest of at least mitigating their future punishment.”