November 21, 2014

Segment 1 of today's show will consider whether, consistent with the First Amendment and Virginia v. Black, conviction of threatening another person under 18 U.S.C. § 875(c) requires proof of the defendant's subjective intent to threaten, as required by the Ninth Circuit and the supreme courts of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont; or whether it is enough to show that a “reasonable person” would regard the statement as threatening, as held by other federal courts of appeals and state courts of last resort; and (2) whether, as a matter of statutory interpretation, conviction of threatening another person under 18 U.S.C. § 875(c) requires proof of the defendant's subjective intent to threaten. 
 

Segment 2 of today's show will look at the preliminary declaration of a state of emergency declared in Ferguson, Missouri at the wait of the grand jury's indictment. For several months peaceful protestors have had their First Amendment right trampled over due to the harsh criticism of local, state and federal government.

Segment 3 of today's show will focus on the intersection of the First Amendment

freedom of speech rights and the government’s ability to regulate, and in some situations ban

lawyer advertising.  Restrictions are typically enforced through the individual state agencies,

commonly referred to as the State Bar.

Segment 4 of today's show will determine if some tactics protected under the First Amendment are acts of voter intimidation or exercise of free speech.