Ethics Panel Recommends Censure for Rep. Spillane for ‘Demeaning’ Comments; InDepthNH.org, July 17, 2026

 Nancy West , InDepthNH.org; Ethics Panel Recommends Censure for Rep. Spillane for ‘Demeaning’ Comments

"The Committee charged Spillane with violations of the Ethics Guidelines, Section 1, Principles of Public Service, Paragraph III, Principle of Accountability, which provides that legislators “shall ensure that government is conducted openly, equitably and honorably in a manner that permits the citizenry to make informed judgments, have confidence in the integrity of the legislature, and hold government officials accountable” and Paragraph IV, Principle of Conduct, which provides that legislators “shall treat each other, legislative employees, and the public with dignity and respect.”

It will be up to the House to vote on the committee’s recommendation. The next time the House is expected to be in session will be Veto Day in September or October.

The report said Spillane admitted to making the postings identifying him as a state Representative at a hearing on the matter, but said they weren’t made in the performance of his official duties so his conduct didn’t fall within the jurisdiction of the Committee. Spillane also argued that his comments in the social media posts are protected speech under the federal and New Hampshire constitutions.

“While the right of freedom of speech is fundamental, it is not absolute. Certain categories of speech such as defamation and harassment can be restricted. In this case Rep. Horrigan testified that the offensive statements made in the posts were not true and. Rep. Harvey testified that she had legitimate concerns about her safety,” the report said.

In 2020, the civil rights unit of the Attorney General’s Office investigated a social media post by Spillane that stated “Public Service Announcement: If you see a (Black Lives Matter) sign on a lawn it’s the same as  having the porch light on for Halloween. You’re free to loot and burn that house.” Spillane said at the time he meant that post as “tongue-in-cheek” political commentary and the investigation was suspended with no action taken."

Pete Buttigieg and his kids subject to CPS, police investigation after false report; NPR, June 26, 2026

 Elena Moore, NPR; Pete Buttigieg and his kids subject to CPS, police investigation after false report

"Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says he and his children were the subject of an investigation by Child Protective Services following an anonymous report that was later determined to be false.

Buttigieg, who lives with his husband and their twin four-year-old children in Traverse City, Michigan detailed the experience in a Substack post on Friday, saying that a police officer and CPS worker had come to his home and notified him of an anonymous report that alleged his children were at risk...

When asked for comment, the Michigan State Police told NPR they had received an anonymous report this week that state police and CPS responded to and "determined the report was false."...

The Michigan State Police have not shared any additional information on a potential motive for the false report against Buttigieg and his family. But in his statement Friday, Buttigieg noted the incident had taken place during Pride Month, meant to celebrate LGBTQ+ people.

"It's not lost on me that this happened soon after we shared photos of our family on social media for Father's Day," Buttigieg said in his statement. "Or that this occurred during a month meant to make families like ours feel welcome and safe."

News of the incident prompted bipartisan support for Buttigieg, including from Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wisc., who replied to the Michigan Democrat's post on X saying, "this has happened to our family and I agree, this is horrible."

A Teenager Killed Himself After Being Outed as Bisexual. His Family Wants Justice.; The New York Times, September 30, 2019

Emily S. Rueb, The New York Times;

A Teenager Killed Himself After Being Outed as Bisexual. His Family Wants Justice.

The family and classmates of Channing Smith, a high school junior, said his death was a result of “social media bullying” and called for a thorough investigation.

"Channing’s death underscores the challenges of combating cyberbullying, which has proliferated in recent years. According to a report last year from the Pew Research Center, 59 percent of teenagers said they had been bullied or harassed online — and many of them thought teachers, social media companies and politicians were failing to help.

In schools across the country, L.G.B.T. students are more likely to be bullied and experience depression than their straight peers, studies have found."

Donald and Billy on the Bus; New York Times, 10/8/16

Lindy West, New York Times; Donald and Billy on the Bus:

"If you have spent your career brutalizing and dehumanizing women legislatively rather than personally, you are no better. If you were happy to overlook months of violent racism, xenophobia, transphobia and Islamophobia from the Trump campaign, but now you’re mad that he used a bad word and tried to sleep with another man’s wife, you are no better. If you have derided and stigmatized identity politics in an effort to keep the marginalized from organizing, you are no better. If you snicker or say nothing while your fellow men behave like Donald Trump, you are no better.

The truth is that all of you have failed women for generations, and you deserve to lose our votes. Next month we will grab you where it hurts. By your ballots."

L.G.B.T. People Are More Likely to Be Targets of Hate Crimes Than Any Other Minority Group; New York Times, 6/16/16

Haeyoun Park and Iaryna Mykhyalyshy, New York Times; L.G.B.T. People Are More Likely to Be Targets of Hate Crimes Than Any Other Minority Group:

"Even before the shooting rampage at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people were already the most likely targets of hate crimes in America, according to an analysis of data collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

L.G.B.T. people are twice as likely to be targeted as African-Americans, and the rate of hate crimes against them has surpassed that of crimes against Jews.

Politicians have been divided on how to define the Orlando tragedy. President Obama called it both “an act of terror and and an act of hate.” But some Republican officials have refused to acknowledge that it could be considered a hate crime."

The Guardian view on Jo Cox: an attack on humanity, idealism and democracy; Guardian, 6/16/16

Guardian; The Guardian view on Jo Cox: an attack on humanity, idealism and democracy:

"The slide from civilisation to barbarism is shorter than we might like to imagine. Every violent crime taints the ideal of an orderly society, but when that crime is committed against the people who are peacefully selected to write the rules, then the affront is that much more profound.

The killing, by stabbing and repeated shooting in the street, of Jo Cox is, in the first instance, an exceptionally heinous villainy. She was the mother of two very young children, who will now have to grow up without her. It is also, however, in a very real sense, an attack on democracy. Violence against MPs in Britain is mercifully rare. Only three have been killed in recent history: Airey Neave, Tony Berry and Ian Gow, all of them at the hands of the Irish republicans. Two others, Nigel Jones and Stephen Timms, have been grievously wounded, the latter by a woman citing jihadi inspiration and rage about the Iraq war. Whatever the cause, an attack on a parliamentarian is always an attack on parliament as well, which was as clear in Thursday’s case as any before...

Jo Cox, however, was not just any MP doing her duty. She was also an MP who was driven by an ideal. The former charity worker explained what that ideal was as eloquently as anyone could in her maiden speech last year. “Our communities have been deeply enhanced by immigration,” she insisted, “be it of Irish Catholics across the constituency or of Muslims from Gujarat in India or from Pakistan, principally from Kashmir. While we celebrate our diversity, what surprises me time and time again as I travel around the constituency is that we are far more united and have far more in common with each other than things that divide us.”

What nobler vision can there be than that of a society where people can be comfortable in their difference? And what more fundamental tenet of decency is there than to put first and to cherish all that makes us human, as opposed to what divides one group from another? These are ideals that are often maligned when they are described as multiculturalism, but they are precious nonetheless. They are the ideals which led Ms Cox to campaign tirelessly for the brutalised and displaced people of Syria, and – the most painful thought – ideals for which she may now have died."