{"id":602,"date":"2022-01-27T10:21:28","date_gmt":"2022-01-27T16:21:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/freespeech\/?post_type=faqs&p=602"},"modified":"2022-03-13T22:19:47","modified_gmt":"2022-03-14T03:19:47","slug":"what-constitutes-a-true-threat","status":"publish","type":"faqs","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/freespeech\/faqs\/what-constitutes-a-true-threat\/","title":{"rendered":"What constitutes a true threat?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A true threat is not protected by the First Amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court defined true threats in Virginia v. Black<\/em> (2003)<\/a> as \u201cstatements 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.\u201d According to the Supreme Court, true threats include when a 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.<\/p>\n

This definition means that expression that may seem threatening may be protected, as only true<\/em> threats where the speaker expresses intent to explicitly cause immediate harm are prohibited. An example of seemingly threatening expression that was protected occurred in Watts v. United States <\/em>(1969)<\/a>, where the Supreme Court overturned Watts\u2019 conviction for stating at an anti-war rally that, \u201cI am not going. If they ever make me carry a rifle the first man I want to get in my sights is L.B.J.\u201d The Supreme Court ruled that Watts\u2019 language was not a true threat on the life of President Lyndon B. Johnson (L.B.J.), as Watts\u2019 rhetoric was simply \u201cpolitical hyperbole.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A true threat is not protected by the First Amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court defined true threats in Virginia v. Black (2003) as \u201cstatements where the speaker means to communicate a serious expression of an intent to commit an act of unlawful violence …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1423,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","tags":[],"faq":[],"class_list":["post-602","faqs","type-faqs","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat constitutes a true threat? - Free Speech, Rights and Limits<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/freespeech\/faqs\/what-constitutes-a-true-threat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What constitutes a true threat?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A true threat is not protected by the First Amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court defined true threats in Virginia v. 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