United States v. Martinez, No. 11-13295 (11th Cir. 2013)
Annotate this CaseDefendant appealed her conviction for knowingly transmitting a threatening communication under 18 U.S.C. 875(c). Defendant sent an anonymous email to a local radio show host threatening, inter alia, the safety of local schools. The court held that Virginia v. Black did not require a subjective-intent analysis for all true threats. Therefore, when the Government shows that a reasonable person would perceive the threat as real, a true threat may be punished and any concern about the risk of unduly chilling protected speech has been answered. The court also rejected defendant's overbreadth claim. Because true threats are unprotected speech, and because the court's reading of section 875(c) limited that statute to true threats, defendant had not demonstrated a realistic danger that the statute would significantly compromise recognized First Amendment protections. Accordingly, the court affirmed the district court's conviction and restitution order.
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