Document Type
Supreme Court Commentaries
Publication Date
3-5-2015
Subject Category
Constitutional Law | Law
Abstract
This commentary analyzes the Supreme Court case Elonis v. United States where the Court will determine the applicable criminal-intent standard required to convict a defendant for threatening speech. After a series of violent Facebook posts against coworkers and his estranged wife, Petitioner Elonis was convicted for making so-called "true threats" of violence--speech not granted First-Amendment protection. Elonis argues that the prosecution should have been required to prove that he actually had the intent to threaten people when he wrote the posts, not simply that a reasonable person would find the posts threatening. The Author argues that the Court should rule in the Petitioner's favor and require a finding of subjective intent because such a mens rea requirement is suggested in the plain meaning, legislative history, and by the Court's true-threat jurisprudence.
Recommended Citation
Peter S. Larson, Is that a threat?: Elonis v. United States and the Standard of Intent for True Threat Convictions, Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy Sidebar 83-103 (2015)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/djclpp_sidebar/120