Supreme Court Raises Bar for Convicting Online Threats Under First Amendment

The US Supreme Court has ruled that the First Amendment imposes limits on laws that make it a crime to issue threats on the internet, saying that prosecutors must prove that a Colorado man who had sent disturbing messages to a singer-songwriter had acted recklessly in causing emotional harm. The court vacated the conviction and returned the case to the lower courts, where prosecutors may decide whether to retry the defendant under the more demanding standard.