True Threats (as defined in Virginia v. Black)

“Statements where the speaker means to communicate a serious expression of an intent to commit an act of unlawful violence to a particular individual or group of individuals.”  To be a true threat, “the speaker need not actually intend to carry out the threat.” 

Intimidation (as defined in Virginia v. Black)

Intimidation “is a type of true threat, where the speaker directs a threat to a person or group of persons with the intent of placing the victim in fear of bodily harm or death.”


What Do You Think?

Hal Turner, an internet radio host and blogger, was recently convicted of making threats against three federal judges who had upheld a handgun ban. He posted on his website the judges' names, their photographs, their work addresses, and a map of the courthouse where they worked. He then said about them: "These judges deserve to be killed. Their blood will replenish the tree of liberty. A small price to pay to assure freedom for millions." He also wrote approvingly of the February 2005 murder of the husband and mother of a federal court judge by a losing litigant. The murderer then committed suicide. Turner wrote about the killing and subsequent suicide: "Hope you think your job was worth what it seems to have cost you. Every other federal judge should take a good hard look. White people are tired of being pushed around by this government. We are slow to anger, but when we reach our limit, it isn’t pretty."

Should the conviction be overturned on the ground that it violates the First Amendment?

Looking back at the Nuremberg Files website, is this website an example of a true threat?