originally posted by: ImaFungi
I suppose this is freedom of speech. I wonder where the line is drawn, in the sense of; Can you really make any threat you want and be innocent?
Yes, pretty much, unless it is against the president or a public official, for some reason. Only then, is it given any 'credibility', and even then,
people are usually only questioned to determine whether or not they will act on their thoughts or threats. Of courae, it is a fine line, with
'terroristic threats'. A good attorney can likely get just about anyone off.
I had an abusive ex boyfriend living in another state that I assisted the state in convicting. I discovered that after being sentenced to 20 years for
murder, he was released in 3 1/4 on a Writ of Habeus Corpus. When I spoke with the DA for the county, I was told, "All I can say is to not come back
here. He has made it clear to his prison psychologist, me, and every prison official that he is going to hunt you down and kill you."
Astonished, I asked how in the world he could be released after making threats like that. I was told nothing could be done until and unless he
attempts to act on those threats.
I have managed to hide from him a good many years, and he has been hunting me, this much I know, though I won't say how I know. I will try to not give
any clues, as long as possible. This has been over 25 years, but I know he will never give up.
This is one of the reasons I will never have FB, or use various other types of social media. It simply reduces the risks of endangering my life. I
also have a huge resentment of people that for various reasons, 'require' folks to have FB, like their page, etc., to be able to participate in
contests, etc. It does not take into account likely hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people in my exact position that have a safety factor
for NOT being on social media. They are simply blind to the risks they impose on people, and thereby exclude a lot of people without thought.
And, many people have said, "Get a restraining order", yet fail to realize that doing so reveals not only my name (which is different now) as well as
my address.
So, TLDR: it is generally not illegal to threaten people, unless it crosses the line of terroristic threats, or is the president or public official.
Everyday folks are S.O.L.
edit on 1-7-2014 by Libertygal because: (no reason given)