Popehat

Popehat is a law-oriented blog.[1] According to its tagline, Popehat is a "group complaint about law, liberty, and leisure". Its primary blogger, American attorney Ken White, writes about law, scams, and freedom of expression on the Internet.[2] A Twitter account under the same name was later established, and has amassed hundreds of thousands of followers.

For various hats worn by Popes, see Pope's hat.

History

Popehat was established in 2004.[1] After having a low profile for many years, the blog came to widespread attention in 2012 when it documented The Oatmeal and FunnyJunk legal dispute involving Charles Carreon.[3] It has also covered swatting,[4] IsAnybodyDown?,[5] Prenda Law,[6] scam letters,[7] and SLAPP issues.[8] The blog sometimes helps arrange pro bono counsel for affected bloggers (the "Popehat Signal")[9] including PZ Myers.[10]

It has been repeatedly linked by Boing Boing, Instapundit, John Scalzi, Techdirt, and others and was included in the ABA Journal "Blawg 100" in 2011,[11] 2012,[12] 2013,[13] and 2014.[14] In 2015, Popehat was inducted into the ABA Journal Blawg Hall of Fame.[15]

The blog was originally anonymous[16] but White's identity was eventually uncovered.[17] White's fellow bloggers (anonymous or known to various degrees) have included Adam, Charles, David, Derrick, Grandy, Marc Randazza, Patrick, and a bovine character named Via Angus.

In January 2009, the Popehat Twitter account was established. Known for updating his handle to reflect Twitter's trending topic of the day, primary tweeter Ken White continues to comment on legal issues in a humorous but substantive way. He is generally an advocate for broad free speech rights and reform of the criminal justice system.[18][19][20]

In August 2020, the original blog website announced that it was being discontinued and would be preserved only as a historical artifact, with new posts going to a replacement Substack site instead.[21]

DPRK News Service

Two of the blog's writers, Patrick and Derrick, run a Twitter feed purporting to be the voice of North Korea.[22][23] Greta van Susteren, Slate,[24] the Washington Post, Newsweek,[25] CNN,[26] Reuters Australia have mistakenly identified the feed as authentic.[27] On the MSNBC television program Morning Joe, journalist Mark Halperin cited the feed as evidence that the government of North Korea was expressing support for Donald Trump.[28][29]

References
  1. "About Popehat". Popehat. Retrieved 2015-03-17.
  2. "Posts by author Ken White". Popehat. Retrieved 2015-03-17.
  3. "The Oatmeal v. FunnyJunk". Popehat. 2012-06-12. Retrieved 2015-03-17.
  4. "The Kimberlin Saga". Popehat. Retrieved 2015-03-17.
  5. "Is Anybody Down?". Popehat. Retrieved 2015-03-17.
  6. "Prenda Law". Popehat. Retrieved 2015-03-17.
  7. "Anatomy of a Scam". Popehat. Retrieved 2015-03-17.
  8. "Anti-SLAPP". Popehat. Retrieved 2015-03-17.
  9. "The Popehat Signal". Popehat. Retrieved 2015-03-17.
  10. "Last word for now". Pharyngula. 13 August 2013.
  11. "The 5th Annual Blawg 100". ABA Journal. 2011-12-01. Retrieved 2015-03-17.
  12. "The 6th Annual Blawg 100". ABA Journal. 2012-12-01. Retrieved 2015-03-17.
  13. "The 7th Annual Blawg 100". ABA Journal. 2013-12-01. Retrieved 2015-03-17.
  14. "The 2014 ABA Journal Blawg 100". ABA Journal. 2014-12-19. Retrieved 2015-03-17.
  15. "The 2015 ABA Journal Blawg 100 Hall of Fame". ABA Journal. 2015-12-01. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  16. "Why I Blog Anonymously, And Why It's OK: Ed Whelan of NRO Outs Blogger Publius of Obsidian Wings". Popehat. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
  17. O'Keefe, Kevin (2011-12-30). "Popehat unmasked : For a good cause". Kevin.lexblog.com. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
  18. "Op-Ed: Actually, hate speech is protected speech". Los Angeles Times. 2017-06-08. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  19. White, Ken (2019-03-09). "6 Reasons Paul Manafort Got Off So Lightly". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  20. White, Ken (2019-08-13). "Thirty-Two Short Stories About Death in Prison". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  21. Now Posting At Substack
  22. "North Korea's News Service Barely Needs to be Spoofed but This Duo Nails It". washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2016-04-21.
  23. "DPRK News Service". Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  24. "Slate article, including correction/retraction". Slate.com. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  25. "Newsweek article, including correction/retraction". Newsweek.com. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  26. "CNN article, including correction/retraction". CNN.com. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  27. "Popehat overview of hoax picked up by mainstream media". Popehat.com. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  28. "Why Do Media Outlets Still Fall Victim to Twitter Parody". motherboard.vice.com. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  29. "No, North Korea Did Not Offer Support for Noted Scholar Donald Trump". WashingtonPost.com. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
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