After Anthony Elonis's wife left him, he began to write graphically violent rap lyrics and post them to his Facebook account. In several posts, he fantasized about murdering his estranged wife. Others contained violent thoughts about the workplace from which he had been fired, his former co-workers, and an FBI agent who had investigated the matter. In one post, he even talked about massacring a local kindergarten class.
The decision? Intent to threaten must be demonstrated in order to convict for the criminal offense of "transmission of threats in interstate commerce". The court did not rule on whether or not "recklessness" would be sufficient.
The 7-2 ruling reversed the judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and "narrowed the circumstances under which individuals can be convicted of making criminal threats under federal law when they post statements on social media like Facebook."
On Monday, the Supreme Court handed Elonis a victory by overturning his conviction. At the same time, however, the Court declined his invitation to issue a broad ruling on First Amendment grounds. Instead, the majority took a minimalist approach, deciding no more than was absolutely necessary to dispose of the case before it.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 08 2015, @05:51PM
i suppose the decision was correct ... for a world made up of robots.
i think it points to a deeper problem in society.
this guy needs help .. but is there a law for that? should there be one?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 08 2015, @06:28PM
This guy doesn't need anything.
I can write all kinds of twisted stuff, and it's meaningless.
It is part of our abilities as humans, to snuff that is to be a robot, not the other way around.