In S.B.B. v. L.B.B., (NJ App., Sept. 6, 2023), a New Jersey appellate court vacated a Final Restraining Order (FRO) issued by a trial court under the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act. The court said in part:
The FRO was based on the predicate act of harassment. The communication underlying the trial judge's finding of harassment was defendant's creation and dissemination of a video accusing her estranged husband of improperly withholding a get, a Jewish bill of divorce, and asking community members to "press" her husband to deliver the get. Because defendant's communication constituted constitutionally protected free speech, we reverse.
In reaching that conclusion, the appellate court said in part:
[The trial court] judge's finding that the Jewish community was prone to violence against get refusers—and the implicit holding that defendant was aware of and intentionally availed herself of such violent tendencies—is not supported by the record. The video was intended to get a get. The video did not threaten or menace plaintiff, and nothing in the record suggests that plaintiff's safety or security was put at risk by the video.... Without credible evidence that the video incited or produced imminent lawless action or was likely to do so, defendant's speech does not fall within the narrow category of incitement exempted from First Amendment protection.
Volokh Conspiracy has more on the decision.
