“ Federal criminal liability does not turn solely on the results of an act without considering the defendants mental state,” Wrote Chief Justice John Roberts. “ What Elonis knew is what mattered and it's not enough to say a reasonable person would find the threats to be genuine.” Its worth being mentioned that the court was making a decision on the case at a federal level and they did not address the extent to which Freedom of speech in the First Amendment was deal with at the criminal level ( these threats are referred to as “true threats”) Thus, this decision has no effect on online cases at the state level. Of course, this doesn't mean that states won't be influenced by the Elonis vs. United States case. But Advocates for freedom of speech liberties want the criminal system to hold threat charges to a higher standard. “ Anyone can make a threat online but we want to make sure that the court is not blaming the poster for being artistic.” said one representative “ People from all of the world can
“ Federal criminal liability does not turn solely on the results of an act without considering the defendants mental state,” Wrote Chief Justice John Roberts. “ What Elonis knew is what mattered and it's not enough to say a reasonable person would find the threats to be genuine.” Its worth being mentioned that the court was making a decision on the case at a federal level and they did not address the extent to which Freedom of speech in the First Amendment was deal with at the criminal level ( these threats are referred to as “true threats”) Thus, this decision has no effect on online cases at the state level. Of course, this doesn't mean that states won't be influenced by the Elonis vs. United States case. But Advocates for freedom of speech liberties want the criminal system to hold threat charges to a higher standard. “ Anyone can make a threat online but we want to make sure that the court is not blaming the poster for being artistic.” said one representative “ People from all of the world can