Governor vetoes revenge porn bill, first veto since taking office
By News Staff
In her first veto since taking office, Governor Gina Raimondo has decided not to sign the “revenge porn bill”. The bill would have prohibited the posting of nude photos without permission. The images are often posted by ex-spouses, former partners or extortionists. The penalty would’ve been up to a year in prison for first offenses, and up to five years for extortion cases.
The Governor said she acknowledged that this is an important and serious topic and would work with lawmakers to create a more narrowly-tailored bill in the next legislative session.
The ACLU has expressed its thanks to the Governor, saying the bill would have had a “chilling effect on free speech rights”.
However, House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello told ABC6 News he hopes to override the veto. "At some point we have to re-pass it or override the veto," he explained.
Attorney General Peter Kilmartin, also disappointed and released a statement expressing his dismay, reading in part:
"Whereas I respect the prerogative of the governor to veto legislation, I am dismayed that Governor Raimondo vetoed a bill that helps protect victims of sexploitation, most of whom are women. My office has vetted this bill internally for over four years now and analyzed similar legislation that has been enacted in 34 other states. I am confident that after review by our criminal, civil, and appellate units, as well as by the General Assembly, that we could have easily and successfully defended the constitutionality of the bill if challenged. We provided the Governor’s office with documentation on the bill upon transmission and spoke directly with her office and her attorneys. We respectfully disagree with their recent analysis of this bill, and believe that this is a privacy issue for the victims not a First Amendment issue for sexploiters. This bill was carefully worded due to our real concern for the victims who would have has a sense of justice had this bill not been vetoed."
© WLNE-TV 2016
