I posted previously about this case, United States v. Jeffries, which involved a man who was convicted for violating a federal criminal threat statute when he posted an online video where he sang a song about how he wanted to kill the judge and other people related to his custody battle with his wife. This case is similar to another, recent true threat case in the Third Circuit that I described here.
The question in both of those cases was whether making a true threat requires subjective intent to threaten another individual. Both courts concluded that subjective intent was not required -- what mattered was whether the defendant's statements caused others to reasonably fear for their safety.
Today, the Supreme Court declined to review the case. This is not surprising, since the only court of appeals to hold that subjective intent is required is the Ninth Circuit. While there is a circuit split, the split was apparently not deep enough to prompt the Supreme Court to decide on this issue.
(H/T: Howard Bashman at How Appealing)
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