A free speech case currently before the Supreme Court is potentially groundbreaking for determining how illegal threats made on social media will be handled in the digital age. The case – which the court began hearing Monday – stems from the conviction and jailing of Anthony Elonis, an aspiring rapper from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Elonis made violent threats against his estranged wife on Facebook, as well as hinting that he might harm law enforcement officers and threatened to shoot up a school. He was convicted of violating a federal law making it a crime to threaten another person, and a federal appeals court rejected his appeal that his comments should be protected by the First Amendment.
Elonis claims he didn’t even mean to threaten anyone, but rather was just posting lyrics as a way to deal with the breakup of his wife.
Among his Facebook posts cited in the case was this quote: “There’s one way to love ya, but a thousand ways to kill ya, and I’m not going to rest until your body is a mess, soaked in blood and dying from all the little cuts. Hurry up and die bitch.” Later he also posted about his wife: “Fold up your protective order and put in your pocket. Is it thick enough to stop a bullet?”
His lawyers have claimed that the posts by Elonis were heavily influenced by famous rapper star Eminem, who has also fantasized in songs about killing his ex-wife.
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