The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday threw out the stalking conviction of a Colorado man who sent hundreds of unwanted Facebook messages to a female musician, ruling that state prosecutors had not shown that he was aware of the "threatening nature" of his statements.
  • Neato@kbin.social
    2·
    1 year ago

    Seems like the ruling was correct. Colorado’s law seems too easy to convict.

    Lawyers for the state responded that it was enough to look at the words in question, how they were conveyed and the response they elicited. The speaker’s subjective intent, they said, does not matter.

    Threats have to have intent. I agree this case the defendant was likely guilty of making threats. But the SCOTUS was overturning the case on the grounds of the Colorado law. Not judging the defendant specifically. At least that’s how the above poster’s excerpts from Kagan’s decision and the 2 dissents from Barrett and Thomas read.