Elonis v. United States: Supreme Court reverses Facebook 'rap lyric' threat conviction
Anthony Elonis was convicted under a federal threats statute for violent rap-style Facebook posts about his estranged wife, coworkers, and an FBI agent. In June 2015, the Supreme Court reversed 8-1, holding that negligence as to whether posts would be perceived as threats is insufficient to sustain a conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 875(c).
Anthony Elonis of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was arrested by the FBI in 2010 after posting violent rap-style lyrics on Facebook directed at his estranged wife, former coworkers at an amusement park, a kindergarten class, and an FBI agent who visited him about earlier posts. He was convicted on four counts of transmitting threats in interstate commerce under 18 U.S.C. § 875(c) and sentenced to 44 months. On June 1, 2015, the Supreme Court reversed his conviction in Elonis v. United States, 575 U.S. 723, holding that a reasonable-person 'negligence' standard is not enough to convict under the federal threats statute; the government must show the defendant intended his communications to be threats or knew they would be viewed that way. The decision is a landmark on the line between protected online expression and true threats.