California: Long Beach must disclose names of police officers involved in shootings

A California appeals court ruled that cities cannot withhold the name of a police officer involved in shootings unless they provide evidence of a specific threat against the officer. The judge said it’s common practice to identify officers and there was a strong public interest in knowing who was involved in shootings. -db From the San [...]

Federal appeals court throws out conviction in Super Bowl threats

In a 9-2 vote, the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals overturned a conviction of a man who sent letters to the media threatening a massacre at the 2008 Super Bowl in Arizona. The court said the law covers threats to people, not corporations. The man served a year and a day in prison. -db [...]

California: State Supreme Court rules law against threats constitutional within certain bounds

The California Supreme Court ruled that state laws banning threats against crime victims or witnesses are constitutional so long as in the words of the ruling,  a “reasonable listener” would understand [the threat] as “a serious expression of an intent to commit an act of unlawful violence, rather than an expression of jest or frustration.” [...]

Talk show host accused of threatening three judges gets mistrial

An internet radio talk show host accused of threatening to kill three federal judges had his trial end in mistrial when the jury voted 9 to 3 for acquittal. Prosecutors said they would retry try the man. -DB Courthouse News Service December 8, 2009 After the Brooklyn jury deadlocked, a federal judge declared a mistrial [...]

Courts consider distinction between hyperbole and real threat

This week two courts will hear arguments on whether particular threats should be considered the protected speech of hyperbolic rhetoric or taken as real threats. -DB First Amendment Law Prof Blog November 24, 2009 By Kathleen Bergin Upcoming trials test the boundary between ‘true threats’ and hyperbolic on-line speech The trial of Hal Turner is [...]

Obama asks for renewal of Patriot Act provisions sanctioning secret domestic spying

The Obama administration has notified Congress that it backs renewing provisions of the Patriot Act which expires at the end of the year. The provisions include a secret court for granting wiretaps and warrants for records – banking, library and medical. -DB Wired September 15, 2009 By David Kravets The Obama administration has told Congress it [...]