Elonis v. United States
United States Supreme Court
575 U.S. 723, 135 S.Ct. 2001, 192 L.Ed.2d 1 (2015)
- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
Elonis (defendant) posted violent language directed at his estranged wife online. The United States (plaintiff) charged Elonis with making interstate threats in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 875(c). Section 875(c) did not contain any required mens rea. Elonis argued he did not violate section 875(c) because he did not intend to threaten anyone. The district court instructed the jury to use a reasonable person standard in determining whether Elonis’s postings constituted threats. The jury convicted Elonis. The court of appeals affirmed, holding that section 875(c) did not require intent to communicate a threat, but rather only an intent to communicate words that a reasonable person would deem a threat. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Roberts, C.J.)
Concurrence/Dissent (Alito, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 778,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,200 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
