United States v. Stevens

881 F.3d 1249 (2018)

Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
U
From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

United States v. Stevens

United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
881 F.3d 1249 (2018)

Facts

On September 16, 2016, Tulsa Police Department (TPD) officer Betty Shelby shot and killed Terence Crutcher, an unarmed African American man. The incident contributed to a heated national debate concerning use of force by police against minorities. In the days following the shooting, Connecticut resident Jeffrey Stevens (defendant) sent a series of 10 messages to the TPD using an online complaint form. In several of these messages, Stevens stated that Shelby and other TPD officers who shot unarmed civilians would be executed and commented that it might be necessary to also kill the officers’ families. None of Stevens’s messages mentioned that he was in Connecticut, and none of the recipients knew his location. Stevens was indicted for violating 18 U.S.C § 875(c), which criminalized interstate communication with intent to injure. Stevens moved to dismiss the indictment, arguing that his messages were not true threats because (1) they were political speech and (2) he had no intent or ability to carry out the threats. The district court denied the motion, and Stevens appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Matheson, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 820,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 820,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 989 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.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 820,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 989 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

First Amendment

Key Terms