Justices Won’t Clarify Line Between Speech and`True Threats’ (1)

The U.S. Supreme Court won’t address when states can criminalize threatening speech.

The justices on Monday refused to review a pair of convictions thrown out by the Kansas Supreme Court, which said last year that the state law classifying a threat a felony was unconstitutional because it could penalize speech that—while undesirable—is protected by the First Amendment.

The speaker need not act on the threat for it to be criminal, but at the very least, the speaker must intend for the threat to cause fear, the state’s high court said. Threats made “recklessly,” without regard to whether or not ...