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Revenge Porn Law Declared Unconstitutional

Recently, the Minnesota Court of Appeals overturned a state law passed in 2016 that made it illegal to transmit private sexual images of someone without their permission.

In State v. Casillas, a three-judge panel of the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled that Minnesota’s revenge porn law, Minn. Stat. § 617.261, was overbroad and in violation of the First Amendment, finding that the law not only covered situations where a person knowingly posted explicit images of another person without their permission, but also included situations where a person might not know that the other individual did not consent to its publication and “did not cause or intend to cause a specified harm.”

The decision overturns a 2017 felony conviction from Dakota Country District Court for Michael Casillas, who was charged and convicted under the revenge porn law after distributing videos of an ex-partner in a sexual act with another person. The District Court found that Casillas used his partner's passwords to access the videos and then sent a text to his ex-partner, noting that he planned to send them out, demonstrating that he knew it was against the person’s wishes.

The Court of Appeals said its ruling does not condone Casillas’ behavior, and should not “be read as failing to appreciate the significant harm that the nonconsensual dissemination of private sexual images causes.”

While the Court of Appeals recognized that the state legitimately sought to punish Casillas’ “abhorrent” conduct, it held that the state cannot do so under an overbroad statute that violates the First Amendment. “In the end,” the Court held, “we are constitutionally obligated to faithfully apply the law.”

Other state supreme courts have ruled that revenge porn is not protected under free speech laws.

In recent years, revenge porn laws have been enacted to address the growing trend of people posting explicit sexual images of others without their permission, often after the end of a bad relationship.

Unless the Court of Appeals’ ruling is overturned by the Minnesota Supreme Court, it is
anticipated that legislators at some future date will attempt to re-write the language of the law to pass constitutional muster.

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