Trolling strangers on the internet rarely leads to consequences. Trolling a self-described “alpha male” and “bad ass lawyer,” however, landed one college student in court fighting over free speech.
Attorney and former Central Michigan University professor Todd Levitt has a local reputation for rabidly defending student clients and fashioning himself in ongoing homage to Saul Goodman, the shady lawyer on “Breaking Bad.” When CMU senior Zachary Felton created the parody Twitter account “Todd Levitt 2.0,” Levitt made an even bigger name for himself by suing the 22-year-old.
Last Thursday, a judge dismissed Levitt’s libel and defamation case, issuing an order stating the parody was protected under the First Amendment.
“The tweets were meant to ridicule and satirize plaintiff’s social media presence in a humorous way,” wrote Isabella County Judge Paul Chamberlain, according to the Washington Post. “It is clear that Todd Levitt 2.0 cannot reasonably be interpreted as anything other than a parody account.”
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As for Felton, who was represented by a CMU professor in court, he doesn’t regret creating the Twitter account — but he doesn’t plan to repeat the experience any time soon, either. When the case was dropped Thursday, which happened to be his birthday, “felt like a normal college student again,” he said.
“When you Google my name, these lawsuits and news articles come up, and I have been applying to jobs lately,” Felton said. “I actually mentioned this to a few professors I’ve had, and they actually told me it’s a positive thing, that it shows I’m okay with handling some pressure.”
That attention has also spawned another Levitt parody account, as well as a parody of Felton himself. Now impersonated himself, Felton isn’t taking too much offense, though said he was “disappointed” that it wasn’t a better satire.
But the parody “Zach Felton 2.0” did have some useful thoughts on the case for all involved: “Some people need to find something better to do. Including me,” read a tweet.