Elonis V. United States - 1334 Words

Elonis v. United States In the Supreme Court case, Elonis v. United States, Anthony Elonis, the petitioner, claimed that his First Amendment rights were being denied. Elonis used Facebook as a platform for venting comments about people who he felt had done him wrong. Elonis’ words, however, were interpreted to be threats. As an American citizen, Anthony Elonis is protected by the First Amendment as he claims. Having freedom of speech, however, does not mean that a person can say anything they want, whenever they want. Examining the First Amendment, quoting from the Brief for the United States and the Brief for the Petitioner will prove that Elonis did violate federal law. When the Constitution of the United States was†¦show more content†¦According to the Brief for the Petitioner, the First Amendment of the United States Congress cannot establish a law to stop individuals from practicing religious beliefs. The amendment goes on to state that individuals have the right to gather in peaceful assembly and petition the government (2). Under the First Amendment, Americans earned freedom to speak up and be heard by the government. It does not give Americans the right to say anything they wish. In the Brief for the Petitioner it states that according to Section 875 © of Title 18 of the United States Code provides: Whoever transmits in interstate or foreign commerce any communication containing any threat to kidnap any person or any threat to injure the person of another, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. (2) This is the primary flaw in Elonis’ argument of standing behind the First Amendment and shouting freedom of speech. Anthony Elonis shared his words via social media to threaten and intimidate others. Anthony Elonis was charged five times but convicted on only four counts. The first count, of which he was not convicted, was not seen as a â€Å"true threat.† The jury believed that the first conviction was seen more as a joke. The other four convictions, however, were deemed as direct threats. The jury believed that the defendants felt threatened by Elonis’ statements whether or not he truly meant his