U.S. v. Elonis — U.S. Supreme Court’s Facebook Case
- By : Cbh
- Category : SCOTUS, Social Media
A former amusement park employee’s Facebook posts may prove wrong most federal courts or will clearly carve out a rare First Amendment exception.
The case of U.S. v. Elonis focuses on whether statements, often phrased as rap music, could be a “true threat” which would make it a crime if a reasonable person were to perceive a threat.
This case is unusual, not because it is the first Facebook case to reach the Supreme Court, but because it touches upon “new” mediums of expression: rap and online communications, where the tone and content can be edgy and context may not always be as clear.
Dive into this (quite detailed) legal issue with “The US Supreme Court’s ‘Facebook Case'” from the March 2015 Palm Beach Bar Bulletin, here.
Then check out the Third District opinion (here) and the briefs (here).
For the truly brave, check out the confusing oral argument, here.
And, for a slightly different twist, read the December 2014 Bell v. Itawamba opinion, here.
