This sounds like a road map for threatening a spouse and getting away with it. You put it in rhyme and you put some stuff about the Internet on it and you say, I m an aspiring rap artist. And so then you are free from prosecution.
— Samuel Alito, Supreme Court justice, responding to a lawyer s claim that his client s Facebook threats contained elements of entertainment. The High Court is hearing the case of Anthony Elonis, a Pennsylvania man who made threats on Facebook in the form of rap lyrics, many of which discussed killing his estranged wife.
Deputy Solicitor General Michael Dreeben said that rappers — such as Eminem, whose violent lyrics could be construed as threatening to his wife — wouldn t be prosecuted because they are rapping for the purpose of entertaining. Chief Justice John Roberts questioned whether that would include aspiring rappers.
Eminem said it at a concert where people are going to be entertained. This is a critical part of the context, Dreeben said, according to Politico. It wasn t as if he stated it to her in private or on a Facebook page after having received a protection from abuse order.
The New York Times notes that the Supreme Court has ruled that true threats are not protected by the First Amendment, which includes the right to free speech. The Los Angeles Times reports that the justices comments and questions Monday seem to suggest they are leaning away from protecting threats made online.
Photo of Sam Alito from the collection of the Supreme Court/MCT
