Lower Court Holding in United States v. Elonis
Decision of the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
This case presents the question whether the true threats exception to speech protection under the First Amendment requires a jury to find the defendant subjectively intended his statements to be understood as threats. Anthony Elonis challenges his jury conviction under 18 U.S. Code Section 875(c), arguing he did not subjectively intend his Facebook posts to be threatening. In United States v. Kosma (3d Cir. 1991), we held a statement is a true threat when a reasonable speaker would foresee the statement would be interpreted as a threat. We consider whether the Supreme Court decision in Virginia v. Black (2003) overturns…
