Justices Signal High Bar for ‘True Threats’ Prosecutions (1)

US Supreme Court justices indicated they’d prefer a narrow rule for when speakers can be stripped of First Amendment protections and punished for so-called true threats.

The court appeared poised at arguments Wednesday to direct prosecutors to focus on whether the speaker intended to cause fear, rather than how the audience perceived the speech.

It’s “inevitable that speaker intent is going to be important,” Justice Samuel Alito said, expressing an idea that seemed to be shared by most, if not all, the justices.

Alito said no one would believe he was actually threatening to throw a temper tantrum if he ...