#13. Re Can you commit an assault over the phone? Yes, and I helped put a psycho in jail for doing just that - death threats. Worked with the FBI and a local police department to track down, arrest, and extradite the punk to a waiting jail cell in another state.
The stupid guy (who had mental problems), threatened me, over the phone (I had only met him briefly to say hello as he was with a friend of my daughter’s) and said that he was going to kill me, my wife, my daughter and a bunch of kids in the neighborhood.
He was lucky my son was away at Basic Training or he would have been dead in a few minutes.
My reply to this clown was “Do you know who the fuck you are threatening and who I work for”? He didn’t, and that’s why he went back to jail. I made a phone call and that set law enforcement into action. Only my county screwed up royally - they don’t take death threats seriously EVEN if you have them taped.
The FBI and another county acted very professionally, and the neighborhood kids beat the police to getting a photo id of the perp (it would have taken two weeks to get it from the State DMV. We had it in 10 minutes and the Lt. had it in eleven. I love it when a group of savy kids get together to put a dirtbag in jail.
so yes, some “speech” is not protected by the First Amendment. You are free to say it but you are also free t go to jail for the threats contained in it.
There's an "imminent" threat in the nature of these statements, and a reasonableness in believing that they could occur at any time, even if he was captured first.
That's the big difference:
"In 1969, the court established stronger protections for speech in the landmark case Brandenburg v. Ohio, which held that "the constitutional guarantees of free speech and free press do not permit a State to forbid or proscribe advocacy of the use of force or of law violation except where such advocacy is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action".[30][31] Brandenburg is now the standard applied by the Court to free speech issues related to advocacy of violence.[32]"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clear_and_present_danger
A guy can say "Death to the Jews!", call for a violent insurrection, or any other offensive thing he wants, and it is protected by the first amendment so long as there is no clear and present danger of imminent violence.
IIRC, the FREE SPEECH part of the Constitution refers to the right of the people and the media to SPEAK OUT against the government. It was never meant to regulate personal conversations.