Supreme Court Protects Some Threatening Speech: Noah Feldman

In a case involving violent threats made by a stalker against a Colorado singer, the Supreme Court has opted to strengthen free speech rather than to protect potential victims. The upshot is that it will be harder to prosecute online stalkers who intimidate their victims into silence.

The case did not break down along obvious ideological lines, or at least not the lines you might imagine. The majority opinion was written by Justice Elena Kagan. The principal dissent was by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who sided with the victim. And Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote a concurrence, joined in part by Justice ...