Elonis v. United States

Elonis v. United States
Argued December 1, 2014
Decided June 1, 2015
Full case nameAnthony Douglas Elonis, Petitioner v. United States
Docket no.13-983
Citations575 U.S. 723 (more)
135 S. Ct. 2001; 192 L. Ed. 2d 1
Opinion announcementOpinion announcement
Holding
A court's instruction that requires only negligence with respect to the communication of a threat is not sufficient to support a conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 875(c). Third Circuit reversed and remanded.
Court membership
Chief Justice
John Roberts
Associate Justices
Antonin Scalia · Anthony Kennedy
Clarence Thomas · Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Stephen Breyer · Samuel Alito
Sonia Sotomayor · Elena Kagan
Case opinions
MajorityRoberts, joined by Scalia, Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagan
Concur/dissentAlito
DissentThomas
Laws applied
18 U.S.C. § 875(c)

Elonis v. United States, 575 U.S. 723 (2015), was a United States Supreme Court case concerning whether conviction of threatening another person over interstate lines (under 18 U.S.C. § 875(c)[1]) requires proof of subjective intent to threaten or whether it is enough to show that a "reasonable person" would regard the statement as threatening.[2] In controversy were the purported threats of violent rap lyrics written by Anthony Douglas Elonis and posted to Facebook under a pseudonym.[3] The ACLU filed an amicus brief in support of the petitioner.[2] It was the first time the Court has heard a case considering true threats and the limits of speech on social media.[4]

  1. ^ 18 U.S.C. § 875(c).
  2. ^ a b "Elonis v. United States". SCOTUSblog. Supreme Court of the United States. Retrieved October 6, 2014.
  3. ^ John, Arit (October 5, 2014). "The 8 Most Important Cases in the New Supreme Court Term". Bloomberg Politics. Retrieved October 6, 2014.
  4. ^ Emily Bazelon (November 25, 2014). "Do Online Death Threats Count as Free Speech?". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved November 25, 2014.

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