Oct
26
2024

How Many Abs Does That Guy Have, Anyway?

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Eugene Volokh's headline is yawn-inducing: Massive Campaign of Online Insults Can Lead to Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress Liability. But I found myself reading on and got hooked:

From Shanley v. Hutchings, decided earlier this year by Judge David Barlow (D. Utah); later in the year, a jury awarded plaintiff $1.15M in economic damages, $1.15M in noneconomic damages, and $4.5M in punitive damages:

… Plaintiffs Tera Shanley and her publishing company Wicked Willow Press, LLC ("Wicked Willow") sued Defendant Robyn A. Hutchings for defamation per se, defamation, injurious falsehood, false light, tortious interference, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Now, Plaintiffs move for summary judgment. Ms. Hutchings did not respond to Plaintiffs' Motion….

This case arises from voluminous statements Ms. Hutchings posted on various social media platforms concerning Ms. Shanley. Both Ms. Shanley and Ms. Hutchings are writers who primarily publish paranormal romance fiction novels. Ms. Shanley writes under her given name along with a penname, T.S. Joyce. Ms. Hutchings publishes under pennames Terry Bolryder and Domino Savage.

From around early July 2022 to at least August 29, 2022, Ms. Hutchings made hundreds of social media posts on various platforms accusing Ms. Shanley of various acts, including: rape, child sexual abuse, human trafficking, adultery, sexual coercion, blackmail, white supremacy, plagiarism, and abusing fans. Specifically, Ms. Hutchings explicitly accused Ms. Shanley of rape or rape of a child at least 13 times and alluded to such acts at least another 10 times. Ms. Hutchings then accused Ms. Shanley of human trafficking at least twice; adultery, "homewrecking," or "coercion" at least six times; plagiarism at least three times; white supremacy at least once; stalking at least once; and being abusive at least twice. Ms. Hutchings claimed to have proof of her accusations on several occasions.

More generally, Ms. Hutchings simply harassed and insulted Ms. Shanley. And on several occasions, Ms. Hutchings alluded to physically harming Ms. Shanley. Indeed, Ms. Hutchings suggested that "she had been planning this for years." Notably, in her Answer, Ms. Hutchings admits to making a number of the posts at issue in Ms. Shanley's Motion. Ms. Shanley has submitted a declaration denying the acts of which Ms. Hutchings accused her.

There's more of course, but… "paranormal romance fiction"? Hoo boy.

So never mind the legal shenanigans! From Tera Shanley's "About" page at Amazon:

Tera Shanley writes in sub-genres that stretch from Paranormal Romance, to Historic Western Romance, to Dystopian (zombie) Romance. The common theme? She loves love! A self-proclaimed bookworm, she was raised in small town Texas and could often be found decorating a table at the local library. Any spare time is dedicated to chocolate licking, rifle slinging, friend hugging, and the great outdoors. For more information about Tera and her work, visit www.terashanley.com.

That last address fails to resolve, perhaps due to the issues underlying the lawsuit.

Her pseudonym, T.S. Joyce, also has an "About" page, it's somewhat more lurid:

T.S. Joyce is a 130 time bestselling author devoted to bringing hot shifter romances to readers. Hungry alpha males are her calling card, and the wilder the men, the more she'll make them pour their hearts out.

She lives in the PNW with a giant, tattooed hunkyhubby, a make-shift family, a herd of awesome kiddos, plenty of farm animals, and devotes her life to writing big stories. Foodie, bear whisperer, chicken-momma, crazy cat lady, thief of tiny bottles of awesome smelling hotel shampoo, nap connoisseur, romantic comedy fanatic, bite-sized farmer, pig-momma, lover of books, and she's just getting started...

Bear Shifters? Check

Smoldering Alpha Hotness? Double Check

Sexy Scenes? Fasten up your girdles, ladies and gents, it’s gonna to be a wild ride.

I strongly suspect there will be zero gents fastening up their girdles. But what do I know? We've made one of her works our Amazon Product du Jour, because … well, holy cow.

Ms. Hutchings' pseudonyms are also currently Amazon-active: Terry Bolryder and Domino Savage.

Many of the ladies' works at Amazon have samples available, in case you want to make sure they hold no interest for you.

Also of note:

  • I bet you were wondering whether Hurricane Helene justified giving North Carolina's electoral votes to Trump. Reason's Eric Boehm has your answer, friend: No, Hurricane Helene Does Not Justify Giving North Carolina's Electoral Votes to Trump.

    With recovery efforts from widespread flooding ongoing across much of western North Carolina in the wake of Hurricane Helene, a Republican congressman has suggested that it "makes a lot of sense" to effectively cancel the presidential election in the state and declare Donald Trump the winner.

    It doesn't, and the state Legislature does not actually have that power.

    Politico reports that Rep. Andy Harris (R–Md.) said Thursday that North Carolina state lawmakers should be prepared to override the will of the voters to avoid disenfranchising voters in flood-stricken areas who might have been unable to cast a ballot.

    But there might be D-side partisan shenanigans going on in the Tarheel State as well. Breccan F. Thies at the Federalist reports: Dems In NC's Helene Disaster Area Block Early Voting Locations.

    The havoc wrought by Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina brought disaster to homes and families, but that has not stopped Democrats from blocking the approval of emergency early voting sites in the heavily Republican area. The refusal to act forced the GOP-led state legislature to intervene.

    Democrat-run local elections boards in McDowell and Henderson counties have failed to approve additional early voting sites in the disaster-stricken area, despite increasing calls for more access to voting. Both counties voted for Donald Trump in 2020.

    So it's a mess. And if people do manage to cast their ballot, they'll find: yeesh, Kamala and Trump.

  • And for more partisan shenanigans…A the Washington Free Beacon reports: 'Not a Friend to Democracy': Harris Campaign Ramps Up Attacks on Jill Stein Amid Polling Slide.

    The Harris-Walz campaign is circulating opposition research targeting Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein and urging climate-focused voters to support Vice President Kamala Harris as former president Donald Trump gains in the polls, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.

    Speaking on a climate-focused call with supporters and canvassers this week, Harris campaign climate engagement director Camila Thorndike said Harris was a true "climate champion" who would "defend the planet" from "fossil fuel oligarchs" while Stein "pretends to be a progressive advocate."

    Jill's on the ballot here in New Hampshire, and wouldn't it be funny if Trump beat Kamala because too many voters picked Jill instead?

  • Or as your average demagogue would ask: what's their fair share? Jeffrey Miron wonders (but not for long): What is the Right Corporate Tax Rate?

    The 2017 Tax and Jobs Cut Act reduced the tax rate on corporate income from 35% to 21%. Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris wants to raise the rate to 28%, arguing it would be “fairer” and help fund public services. In contrast, Republican candidate Donald Trump, who signed the 2017 Act, now advocates for a 15% corporate tax rate for U.S. based manufacturers, calling it “the centerpiece of his plan for a manufacturing renaissance.”

    Both approaches are way off: the right corporate tax rate is 0%.

    Miron points out the negatives of the corporate income tax: (1) it lowers the return to capital "thus reducing economic growth"; (2) it "perpetuates the [mistaken] idea that something other than people can pay taxes"; (3) it "makes it harder for investors to understand corporate accounts"; (4) it requires "governments to distinguish between for-profit (taxable) and non-profit (non-taxable) entities", a distinction loaded with arbitrariness and the potential for corruption.

    Fun fact: as a source of federal government revenue, the corporate income tax is relatively small: 6% of the total. It wouldn't be easy to make up elsewhere, either by raising other taxes or by cutting spending, but given the amount of inefficiency and market distortion involved, it would be well worth abolishing it.