The Internet as a Game Changer: Reevaluating the True Threats Doctrine

15 Pages Posted: 14 Feb 2012

See all articles by Eric Segall

Eric Segall

Georgia State University College of Law

Date Written: 2011

Abstract

This essay, based on a presentation at the 2011 Criminal Law Symposium: Criminal Law & the First Amendment, held at Texas Tech University School of Law on April 8, 2011, addresses the problem of "true threats," on he internet. This paper argues that the Supreme Court generally overprotects speech as compared to other western democracies, and that the Court should be more concerned than prior cases would suggest with the harm caused by individually-directed threatening speech, especially when such threats are made over the internet. The essay also suggests that the lower courts are in disarray on the subject and need clearer guidance from the Supreme Court on what does and what does not constitute a "true threat."

Keywords: criminal law, true threat, Internet, Supreme Court, free speech, First Amendment, constitutional law, Constitution

JEL Classification: K00, K10, K14, K19

Suggested Citation

Segall, Eric, The Internet as a Game Changer: Reevaluating the True Threats Doctrine (2011). Texas Tech Law Review, Vol. 44, p. 183, 2011, Georgia State University College of Law, Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2012-01, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2004561

Eric Segall (Contact Author)

Georgia State University College of Law ( email )

P.O. Box 4037
Atlanta, GA 30302-4037
United States

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