“You’re not being good for human relations. Die,” was one of the threatening messages sent by the stalker. The Supreme Court is confronting whether the statements, especially those made online, are “true threats” not protected by the First Amendment.
“We live in a world in which people are sensitive and maybe increasingly sensitive,” said Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, mentioning professors who issue “trigger warnings” when discussing topics that could be upsetting. “What do we do in … a world in which reasonable people may deem things harmful, hurtful, threatening? And we’re going to hold people liable willy-nilly for that?”
“It would seem to me whenever you’re trying someone for a First Amendment violation involving speech for any conduct, criminal or civil, that the speaker’s intent should be part of the presentation the jury gets,” Sotomayor said. “But here, the court and the prosecutor argued that the intent was irrelevant, that he [Counterman] couldn’t present any evidence about his intent, correct?”trove messages Counterman sent to Whalen, seeking to show how they could be read more than one way.
There were similar arguments Wednesday from Colorado Attorney General Philip J. Weiser and Eric J. Feigin, representing the Justice Department. “A delusional individual who is a stalker will often say: ‘I believed we were in a relationship, I thought what I was saying was benign,’” Weiser said.
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