The Onion Files Amicus Brief

The Onion, which calls itself “America’s Finest News Source,” recently filed an amicus brief with the United States Supreme Court in defense of Anthony Novac. In 2016, the aspiring comic created a parody of the Parma, Ohio, Police Department’s Facebook page. He was subsequently arrested and charged with “disrupting police operations.”

The Onion’s brief brilliantly defends free speech, and particularly parody. It does so by doing what it does best: parody. The first paragraph is an example and sets the tone for the rest of the brief:

The Onion is the world’s leading news publication, offering highly acclaimed, universally revered coverage of breaking national, international, and local news events. Rising from its humble beginnings as a print newspaper in 1756, The Onion now enjoys a daily readership of 4.3 trillion and has grown into the single most powerful and influential organization in human history.

You can can download the entire brief from the Supreme Court’s website by clicking here.