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Appropriate Test for Determining Whether a “True Threat” is Unprotected By the First Amendment

Case Name: Counterman v. Colorado (2021) 497 P.3d 1039, cert. granted 1/13/2023
Case #: 22-138
Last Updated: January 13, 2023

Whether, to establish that a statement is a “true threat” unprotected by the First Amendment, the government must show that the speaker subjectively knew or intended the threatening nature of the statement, or whether it is enough to show that an objective “reasonable person” would regard the statement as a threat of violence.

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