United States News
See other United States News Articles
Title: Man's call for Obama assassination is free speech, not crime, court rules
Source:
Los Angelas Times
URL Source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lan ... crime-appeals-court-rules.html
Published: Jul 20, 2011
Author: unattributed
Post Date: 2011-07-20 10:11:11 by A K A Stone
Keywords: None
Views: 3827
Comments: 8
A La Mesa man who posted racial epithets and a call to "shoot" Barack Obama on an Internet chat site was engaging in constitutionally protected free speech, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday in overturning his criminal conviction. Walter Bagdasarian was found guilty two years ago of making threats against a major presidential candidate in comments he posted on a Yahoo.com financial website after 1 a.m. on Oct. 22, 2008, as Obama's impending victory in the race for the White House was becoming apparent. Bagdasarian told investigators he was drunk at the time. A divided panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that conviction Tuesday, saying Bagdasarian's comments were "particularly repugnant" because they endorsed violence but that a reasonable person wouldn't have taken them as a genuine threat. The observation that Obama "will have a 50 cal in the head soon" and a call to "shoot the [racist slur]" weren't violations of the law under which Bagdasarian was convicted because the statute doesn't criminalize "predictions or exhortations to others to injure or kill the president," said the majority opinion written by Judge Stephen Reinhardt. "When our law punishes words, we must examine the surrounding circumstances to discern the significance of those words’ utterance, but must not distort or embellish their plain meaning so that the law may reach them," said the 2-1 ruling in which Chief Judge Alex Kozinski joined but Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw dissented.
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: A K A Stone (#0)
the truth replaced by silence is evil... it's your bully pulpit, AK... for now....;}
Obama worshiping cunt.
Now, I know I’m not going to change the minds of any of the True Believers…those who read all of Reverend Al’s sermons, and say things like, “You know, global warming can mean warmer OR colder, wetter OR drier, cloudier OR sunnier, windier OR calmer, …”. Can I get an ‘amen’??
I consider that measure of social and moral conduct reprehensible. Anyone knows watching a "reasonable" person based on the standards of say .... LibertyPost's Goldi-Lox with her star canary running around like a lunatic for 24 hours/day is a bit odd.... err, in "yukons" case outright queer.
Follow the $$$ and the Trail of Dead Bodies...never fails.
Probably got the idea from bullet in the head Fred.
Obama's watch stopped on 24 May 2008, but he's been too busy smoking crack to notice.
I consider that measure of social and moral conduct reprehensible. You are no judge of social and moral conduct ... your actions disqualify you. An illustrative example to prove this is nicely captured here.
I will be the judge for that, tater. Now, then what brings you here? Oh yes, to explain "how" I suggested anything that is incorrect, in your opinion, correct?
Damn, that is one wacky court; of course that allows them to keep hanging Bush in effigy. Well, it should be a crime to urge 'others' to kill anyone.
#2. To: A K A Stone (#0)
Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw dissented
#3. To: A K A Stone (#0)
.... but that a reasonable person wouldn't have taken them as a genuine threat.
#4. To: buckeroo (#3)
#5. To: A K A Stone, Fred Mertz (#0)
Obama "will have a 50 cal in the head soon"
"We (government) need to do a lot less, a lot sooner" ~Ron Paul
#6. To: buckeroo, A K A Stone (#3)
#7. To: Gatlin (#6)
You are no judge of social and moral conduct ... your actions disqualify you.
#8. To: A K A Stone (#0)
The observation that Obama "will have a 50 cal in the head soon" and a call to "shoot the [racist slur]" weren't violations of the law under which Bagdasarian was convicted because the statute doesn't criminalize "predictions or exhortations to others to injure or kill the president," said the majority opinion written by Judge Stephen Reinhardt.
...the statute doesn't criminalize [snip] exhortations to others to injure or kill the president...
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]