Gavel Grab

When Harold “Hal” Turner stands trial in Brooklyn, N.Y., over death threats against three federal judges, the case will hinge on whether his remarks warrant free speech protection or constituted a “true threat” posing an actual, imminent danger to the jurists.

On his Web site, Turner sounded off against the judges who had just affirmed handgun bans in the Chicago area, writing, “These Judges deserve to be killed.” Now media lawyers say his trial, scheduled for Dec. 1, will test how First Amendment protections apply to speech online, according to an article in National Law Journal.

“What we’re beginning to see with this case is that there are boundaries on free speech on the Internet,” said Bruce Sanford, a media law attorney in Washington, D.C. “This case will begin to define those rules.”

Turner maintains his First Amendment rights are trampled by his prosecution, and he protested to the National Law Journal in a September letter, “I am the first editor of a U.S. media outlet to be jailed for an opinion since the Civil War!” You can learn more about Turner’s case from these earlier Gavel Grab posts.