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Criminal Law Keyed to Kennedy
Anthony Douglas Elonis v. United States
Citation:
135 S.Ct. 2001 (2015)Facts
The defendant was an active Facebook user. In 2010, he started to post self-styled rap lyrics. These lyrics included detailed graphic, violent language and imagery directed at his ex-wife, his coworkers, his place of work, a local kindergarten class, and several other people/places. He included disclaimers that the lyrics were fictional with no resemblance to real persons and posted that his writing was therapeutic for him. However, the lyrics described accurate details about these people/places.
He was convicted of violating 18 U.S.C. § 875(c). He requested a jury instruction that “the government must prove that he intended to communicate a threat.” The District Court denied that request, instead instructing the jury that the government needs to prove only that a reasonable person would regard petitioner’s communications as threats. The Court of Appeals affirmed.
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