{"id":2269,"date":"2026-06-11T07:37:30","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T07:37:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=2269"},"modified":"2026-06-11T07:37:30","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T07:37:30","slug":"the-shifting-line-between-free-speech-and-a-criminal-threat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=2269","title":{"rendered":"The shifting line between free speech and a criminal threat"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Threats against public officials have become much, much more common. This includes everyone from the president of the United States to members of Congress, to state and local officials, and even civil servants like local librarians. Threats have always been a part of United States history, often manifesting in times of political turmoil or cultural tension. The internet age opened a new chapter in the U.S. making threats easier to make and harder to trace and prosecute. So what exactly is the standard for defining a criminal threat? How has it changed? And how do we balance safety and free speech in a world where the two seem increasingly at odds? On this episode of Throughline, the shifting line between protected speech and true threats.<\/p>\n<p> associate professor of Law at Belmont University Law School and\u00a0First Amendment fellow for the Freedom Forum<\/p>\n<p>professor at The George Washington Law School, and author of and <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=2261\">Police blast water cannons at protesters amid unrest over stabbing in Belfast<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Threats against public officials have become much, much more common. This includes everyone from the president of the United States to members of Congress, to state and local officials, and even civil servants like local librarians. Threats have always been a part of United States history, often manifesting in times of political turmoil or cultural tension. The internet age opened a new chapter in the U.S. making threats easier to make and harder to trace and prosecute. So what exactly is the standard for defining a criminal threat? How has it changed? And how do we balance safety and free speech in a world where the two seem increasingly at odds? On this episode of Throughline, the shifting line between protected speech and true threats.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Guests:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>David L. Hudson, Jr.,<\/strong> associate professor of Law at Belmont University Law School and\u00a0First Amendment fellow for the Freedom Forum<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mary Anne Franks, <\/strong>professor at The George Washington Law School, and author of <em>Fearless Speech <\/em>and <em>The Cult of the Constitution<\/em><br \/><em><br \/>Support shows like Throughline with NPR+. Sign up today at <a href=\"plus.npr.org\"target=\"_blank\"   >plus.npr.org<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2268,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[223],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-throughline"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The shifting line between free speech and a criminal threat - Best USA Movers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bestusamoverss.com\/?p=2269\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The shifting line between free speech and a criminal threat - Best USA Movers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Threats against public officials have become much, much more common. This includes everyone from the president of the United States to members of Congress, to state and local officials, and even civil servants like local librarians. Threats have always been a part of United States history, often manifesting in times of political turmoil or cultural tension. The internet age opened a new chapter in the U.S. making threats easier to make and harder to trace and prosecute. So what exactly is the standard for defining a criminal threat? How has it changed? And how do we balance safety and free speech in a world where the two seem increasingly at odds? On this episode of Throughline, the shifting line between protected speech and true threats.Guests:David L. Hudson, Jr., associate professor of Law at Belmont University Law School and\u00a0First Amendment fellow for the Freedom ForumMary Anne Franks, professor at The George Washington Law School, and author of Fearless Speech and The Cult of the ConstitutionSupport shows like Throughline with NPR+. 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