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shrike3
shrike3's Journal
shrike3's Journal
June 29, 2023
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/06/27/supreme-court-true-threat-stalking/?fbclid=IwAR0DzmNrZDQLQaDIZ5h9ccmtswlspwrHHYtphtOhJRDTP6iXGYnti8Dhb78
The Supreme Court on Tuesday reversed the conviction of a man who made extensive online threats to a stranger, saying free speech protections require prosecutors to prove the stalker was aware of the threatening nature of his communications.
In a 7-2 ruling with Justice Elena Kagan writing for the majority, the court emphasized that true threats of violence are not protected by the First Amendment. But to guard against a chilling effect on non-threatening speech, the majority said, states must prove that a criminal defendant has acted recklessly, meaning that he “disregarded a substantial risk that his communications would be viewed as threatening violence.”
The case concerned a Colorado law used to convict Billy Raymond Counterman of stalking and causing “emotional distress” to Coles Whalen, a singer-songwriter he had never met. Counterman, who had previously been convicted of making threats to others, served four years in prison in the Whalen case.
Whalen testified at Counterman’s trial, and told The Washington Post in an interview, that she was terrified by Counterman’s relentless pursuit. She said she never knew whether her stalker would be in the crowd at her performances. The worry affected her mental health, caused her to cancel concerts and hampered her career and even caused her for a time to give up performing, she said.
Sorry if this has already been posted.
Supreme Court says a conviction for online threats violated 1st Amendment
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/06/27/supreme-court-true-threat-stalking/?fbclid=IwAR0DzmNrZDQLQaDIZ5h9ccmtswlspwrHHYtphtOhJRDTP6iXGYnti8Dhb78
The Supreme Court on Tuesday reversed the conviction of a man who made extensive online threats to a stranger, saying free speech protections require prosecutors to prove the stalker was aware of the threatening nature of his communications.
In a 7-2 ruling with Justice Elena Kagan writing for the majority, the court emphasized that true threats of violence are not protected by the First Amendment. But to guard against a chilling effect on non-threatening speech, the majority said, states must prove that a criminal defendant has acted recklessly, meaning that he “disregarded a substantial risk that his communications would be viewed as threatening violence.”
The case concerned a Colorado law used to convict Billy Raymond Counterman of stalking and causing “emotional distress” to Coles Whalen, a singer-songwriter he had never met. Counterman, who had previously been convicted of making threats to others, served four years in prison in the Whalen case.
Whalen testified at Counterman’s trial, and told The Washington Post in an interview, that she was terrified by Counterman’s relentless pursuit. She said she never knew whether her stalker would be in the crowd at her performances. The worry affected her mental health, caused her to cancel concerts and hampered her career and even caused her for a time to give up performing, she said.
Sorry if this has already been posted.
June 15, 2023
Non-Catholics are MORE than welcome to comment, so long as they observe our rules. (Pinned at the top.)
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/pride-backlash-targets-catholics-who-are-trying-to-be-more-like-jesus/ar-AA1cBn1J?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=9b79887dec0d4c5aa83dc341cae53616&ei=10
The ministry was founded thanks to “a commitment by the Jesuit order to make sure that the spiritual needs of all marginalized community are being met,” said Ernie Raskauskas, 71, who has been a Holy Trinity parishioner for decades.
He went to Gonzaga College High School, Holy Cross College, Catholic University. He’s got the Catholic bona fides. In Georgetown, he finally found a place to be Catholic and gay after the Jesuits “decided that the LGBTQIA communities were very marginalized, that our spiritual needs weren’t being met, and that they were going to make a special effort on this.”
The parishioners are all deeply Catholic and found a place at Holy Trinity — and nearly everyone I spoke with said this explicitly — where they can be fully themselves.
“It may be difficult to be queer in Catholic spaces,” said Cerissa Cafasso, 40. “But it can also be a challenge to be Catholic in progressive spaces.”
She’s a lawyer and bisexual and never gave up on practicing Catholicism but wasn’t totally comfortable until she came to Holy Trinity. “I can be myself, my full person, with no throat clearing.”
Pride month at Holy Trinity parish in Washington D.C.
Non-Catholics are MORE than welcome to comment, so long as they observe our rules. (Pinned at the top.)
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/pride-backlash-targets-catholics-who-are-trying-to-be-more-like-jesus/ar-AA1cBn1J?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=9b79887dec0d4c5aa83dc341cae53616&ei=10
The ministry was founded thanks to “a commitment by the Jesuit order to make sure that the spiritual needs of all marginalized community are being met,” said Ernie Raskauskas, 71, who has been a Holy Trinity parishioner for decades.
He went to Gonzaga College High School, Holy Cross College, Catholic University. He’s got the Catholic bona fides. In Georgetown, he finally found a place to be Catholic and gay after the Jesuits “decided that the LGBTQIA communities were very marginalized, that our spiritual needs weren’t being met, and that they were going to make a special effort on this.”
The parishioners are all deeply Catholic and found a place at Holy Trinity — and nearly everyone I spoke with said this explicitly — where they can be fully themselves.
“It may be difficult to be queer in Catholic spaces,” said Cerissa Cafasso, 40. “But it can also be a challenge to be Catholic in progressive spaces.”
She’s a lawyer and bisexual and never gave up on practicing Catholicism but wasn’t totally comfortable until she came to Holy Trinity. “I can be myself, my full person, with no throat clearing.”
