I’m sure some people will accuse me of being a liberal socialist Nazi communist dictator… but I just don’t think that death threats should be protected speech.
"These Judges deserve to be killed," declared Harold "Hal" Turner on his Web site on June 2. He was attacking three federal judges who earlier that day had upheld Chicago-area bans on handguns.
By the end of the month, Turner was in handcuffs. On Dec. 1, he's scheduled to go to trial in Brooklyn, N.Y., in a federal case that will test First Amendment protections online.
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On the day the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the gun bans in National Rifle Association v. Chicago, Turner went online to accuse the three 7th Circuit judges -- Frank Easterbrook, Richard Posner and William Bauer -- of being "traitors." He wrote, "Their blood will replenish the tree of liberty." The next day, he posted the judges' names, photos, phone numbers and work addresses. He provided a photo and a map of the Dirksen Federal Building in Chicago, where the court is located, with arrows pointing to "anti-truck bomb barriers." He added, "Behold these devils."
Source: Law.com - Trial Over Death Threats Against Federal Judges Could Test Free Speech Rules Online