Anti-DEA rants on Facebook spark criminal prosecution

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http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57531758-38/anti-dea-rants-on-facebook-spark-criminal-prosecution/

Anti-government rants on Facebook can land you in a heap of trouble.

A federal judge has given the green light to the U.S. Justice Department's prosecution of an Indiana man who allegedly posted incendiary remarks about police.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge William Lawrence in Indiana rejected requests by the defendant, Matthew Michael, to throw out the charges on the grounds that no specific Drug Enforcement Administration agent or other individual had actually been named in the posts.

Lawrence ruled that -- assuming the Facebook postings were illegal threats, which has yet to be proved -- they "were directed at natural persons, namely DEA agents, law enforcement officers, and government personnel."

In 1969, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the conviction of a Ku Klux Klan leader on First Amendment grounds, ruling his vague promises of violence -- "there might have to be some revengeance taken" -- were not illegal.

Michael is accused of writing a series of posts in August 2011 (and creating a "statewide" Facebook event scheduled for November 2011) containing vague but angry and violent statements regarding DEA agents. One alleged post: "War is near..anarchy and justice will be sought...I'll kill whoever I deem to be in the way of harmony to the human race...BE WARNED IF U PULL ME OVER!!"

That's enough to allow the trial to proceed, Lawrence ruled in a written opinion saying:

The First Amendment does not insulate all speech from criminal consequence. Certain categories of speech having little or no social value are not protected, and threats are one such category.... It would be inappropriate for the court to enter a verdict of not guilty based solely on the face of the indictment unless the court could imagine no facts that would render Michael's posts unprotected. That is not the situation here.
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Michael is facing three counts of transmitting threats in interstate commerce.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57531758-38/anti-dea-rants-on-facebook-spark-criminal-prosecution/
 
freedom is fucked all over the planet, usa might take the cake though or atleast a big part of it
 
Since when is "social value" a factor in deciding whether someone's comments are deemed to be prosecutable? For how many centuries now have Americans of African descent been subjected to racism in the form of the usual slurs, still encountered on a regular basis nowadays. Typical biased interpretation of the first amendment, conveniently worded for a law enforcement agency which has aided in spending what is now over $1,000,000,000,000 in taxpayer money on the war on drugs since it was declared. I hope that when/if this war ever ends, you will all be blamed for its colossal failure and treated as outcasts in any community you call or have called home. I believe the accused was no doubt provoked - probably repeatedly - before he began ranting on Facebook, and again conveniently, this was probably left out of the article and/or any other publication (although perhaps bits and pieces are still viewable on Facebook). Capitalizing on law enforcement - in other words, another young American with a criminal record - by way of placing financial worth on words in a sentence - wow.
 
I'm not shocked anymore. Like many great polities in history, the USA is falling into fascism. American sovereignty has been watered down by international business. The multi-national cartels are working overtime to harmonize global economic policy, which means reducing civil rights in every nation concerned.

The major mistake people have made is assuming that democracy is the end point in a linear progression of civilization that can never be taken away, instead of what it actually is: one point on an ever-repeating wheel.
 
Well it's not just an anti DEA rant. It's one thing to post negative comments about something or someone but quite another to say that you are willing or planning to use (lethal) violence. Facebook comments like this are usually just big talk, but for all you know this guy was serious about his willingness to commit murder. (Though I'm pretty sure nothing would've happened if he said the exact same thing about the EPA, Wallmart, the NRA or any other organisation that wasn't affiliated with the law or the judicial system)

I'll kill whoever I deem to be in the way of harmony to the human race
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I'm sure Ghandi and Jesus would be so proud of his pacifist ideals ..
 
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