3 ms·

Wanting to kill the president is not in and of itself a crime.

by nvy 3y ago

bee_rider 3y ago
I think it is illegal to make a credible threat against certain public figures, though, or something along those lines, right? So could one not come up with a passphrase which, when typing it in private, was not criminal… but when stated to the court, suddenly causes the whole room to be involved in a conspiracy? Or, what if the passphrase includes top secret information? Or, what if you passphrase is a declaration that you are under one of those secret court warrant thinamajiggies.
- hn_acker 3y ago
  > I think it is illegal to make a credible threat against certain public figures, though, or something along those lines, right? The Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969) Supreme Court case allows for criminalizing speech only if the speech is "directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action" [1]. "imminent" means that there has to be a near-future, clear time window. "I will kill X president within 3 days" could be illegal. "I will kill X president within a year" is too vague. Regardless, either one could be interpreted as evidence of criminal intent to harm the president. (If you were only joking about killing the president and the jury believes you, then you're fine.) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandenburg_v._Ohio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandenburg_v._Ohio
  - u32480932048 3y ago
    This assumes you even have the right to a jury, or that you've even been charged with anything, or that you have the right to know what the charges are if they have been filed. https://www.aclu.org/issues/national-security/detention/indefinite-detention-endless-worldwide-war-and-2012-national https://www.aclu.org/issues/national-security/detention/inde...
- nvy 3y ago
  The law isn't code. It's not imperative procedure where you can just say the magic words and trigger an exception to be thrown. We have humans to apply the law and use their judgment for exactly this reason.

Wanting to kill the president is not in and of itself a crime.

by nvy 3y ago

Wanting to kill the president is not in and of itself a crime.

I think it is illegal to make a credible threat against certain public figures, though, or something along those lines, right? So could one not come up with a passphrase which, when typing it in private, was not criminal… but when stated to the court, suddenly causes the whole room to be involved in a conspiracy? Or, what if the passphrase includes top secret information? Or, what if you passphrase is a declaration that you are under one of those secret court warrant thinamajiggies.

hn_acker 3y ago
> I think it is illegal to make a credible threat against certain public figures, though, or something along those lines, right? The Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969) Supreme Court case allows for criminalizing speech only if the speech is "directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action" [1]. "imminent" means that there has to be a near-future, clear time window. "I will kill X president within 3 days" could be illegal. "I will kill X president within a year" is too vague. Regardless, either one could be interpreted as evidence of criminal intent to harm the president. (If you were only joking about killing the president and the jury believes you, then you're fine.) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandenburg_v._Ohio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandenburg_v._Ohio
- u32480932048 3y ago
  This assumes you even have the right to a jury, or that you've even been charged with anything, or that you have the right to know what the charges are if they have been filed. https://www.aclu.org/issues/national-security/detention/indefinite-detention-endless-worldwide-war-and-2012-national https://www.aclu.org/issues/national-security/detention/inde...
nvy 3y ago
The law isn't code. It's not imperative procedure where you can just say the magic words and trigger an exception to be thrown. We have humans to apply the law and use their judgment for exactly this reason.