Clay Calvert Comments on Possible Supreme Court Clarification of theTrue Threats Doctrine

Clay Calvert, director of the Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, is the author of “What Killer Mike Can Teach SCOTUS” published on CNN.com on March 18.

Calvert writes about the possible U.S. Supreme Court review of Knox v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In the case, rapper Jamal Knox was accused of making “terroristic threats” in a rap song against two police officers. If the Supreme Court hears the case, it could clarify what exactly constitutes a true threat of violence.

“True threats, like obscenity, child pornography and fighting words, are one of the very few categories of speech not protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. A true threat generally is a statement that places a person in fear of imminent bodily harm or death,” said Calvert. “And the Supreme Court explained 16 years ago in the case Virginia v. Black that a ‘speaker need not actually intend to carry out the threat’ for it to be unprotected by the Constitution.”

According to Calvert, the court has failed to make clear whose perspective is relevant when interpreting the language. Deep racial disparities in how listeners perceive rap lyrics may mask the intention of song lyrics. He questions if judgement should be made based solely on the intent of the speaker, the person that is the target, or the interpretation by a third party.

“What’s more, if the speaker’s subjective state of mind does matter, the Court needs to specify whether the speaker simply must be aware that the target might feel threatened or whether he must specifically intend to make him feel that way,” said Calvert. “Clarity is key when First Amendment interests are at stake. Without it, rappers and others who engage in forms of expression that are frequently caught in the crosshairs of the legal system may remain unnecessarily silent rather than risk prosecution and incarceration for speech that ultimately could be protected by the First Amendment.”

Posted: March 18, 2019
Category: College News, Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project News
Tagged as: Clay Calvert, CNN, Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project