An Ohio blogger spent 23 hours in jail after texting a senator a crude Shrek meme. Can political mockery be prosecuted? The First Amendment weighs in.

Princess Fiona never complained, but Sen. Jerry Cirino sure did.

In May, the Ohio state senator emailed a local police chief, asking him to file criminal charges against a progressive blogger who texted Cirino an image of Shrek… enjoying his swamp stick.

The blogger, D.J. Byrnes, runs The Rooster political website.

According to Signal Ohio:

The text messages include Byrnes’ political commentary, him calling Cirino his oft-repeated and derisive nickname “Young Mussolini,” and Byrnes plugging his own newsletter.

It also contains a digitally altered version of Shrek, the ogre with a titular children’s movie franchise, with his penis exposed. An affidavit with Byrnes’ arrest report refers to the depiction of Shrek as “fully nude with an exposed and erect humanlike penis engaged in an act of masturbation.”

No Shrektile Dysfunction there.

On May 8, two days after Byrnes sent the texts, Cirino emailed Kirtland Police Chief Jamey Fisher, “officially filing a complaint” and asking the police to file charges against Byrnes.

Byrnes was arrested on Monday based on what appears to be the three texts.

He was released after 23 hours in jail, commenting on Instagram: “I believe that the facts presented in court will show that I’m innocent of the misdemeanor charge of telecommunications harassment.”

So . . . can the government prosecute Byrnes for his speech? Let’s look at the facts.