Supreme Court tosses conviction for rap lyric Facebook threats

Supreme Court
(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The Supreme Court Monday threw out a Pennsylvania man's conviction for making threats on Facebook in the form of rap lyrics, the Associated Press reports.

In the 7-2 decision, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that Anthony Elonis' series of posts on Facebook about killing his estranged wife, harming police, and shooting up a school should not be considered illegal threats. It was not enough for prosecutors to prove the comments would make a reasonable person feel threatened, Roberts added. Elonis said in court his comments were meant as therapy for himself, not threats.

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Julie Kliegman

Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.