The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday threw out the stalking conviction of a Colorado man who sent hundreds of unwanted Facebook messages to a female musician, ruling that state prosecutors had not shown that he was aware of the "threatening nature" of his statements.
This guy, given his behavior, should absolutely be in a facility where he can’t do any harm.
However - I have known a few people with Tourette’s over the years, and can absolutely say that mental state and abilities should play a factor in whether or not something that’s done would violate the law.
Yelling “fire” in a crowded theater may not be something someone with tourette’s can control. If that causes a stampede and people get trampled, that’s not their fault, in my opinion.
The point I’m making is that the “fire” is a classic example of speech that isn’t protected in the US, but with this ruling there’s no way to prove intent. So what if I sat down and continued watching the movie afterwards? I just got over the delusion. And someone with tourette’s would probably apologize, try to calm people down, or even avoid a theater altogether. I’m pretty sure that someone with a peanut allergy can’t sue a peanut farm if they go visit and sample the produce; if you know there’s an extra danger for you specifically in performing an activity then you are responsible.
Not to mention tourette’s could never cause targeted, violent, electronic-message based harassment either. This is a focused, intentional action.
In this particular case, I believe the accused should be an inpatient at a mental health facility, especially because of the violent threats that were made. There is no way he should be allowed to walk free and continue doing this to people.
In the case of someone with Tourette’s yelling “Fire! Titties! Fire!” in a crowded theater and causing a stampede - they are still not responsible, nor would they be ruled responsible for any deaths that occur, and that’s 100% correct in my view.
I don’t how it will affect your overall stance, but the “Yelling fire in a crowded theater” (aka, “clear and present danger”) test, which comes from Schenck v. United States, was overturned in 1979 with the case Brandenburg v. Ohio, which gave us the “Imminent Lawless Action” test, instead. This test requires:
Yelling fire in a crowded theater is only illegal if it meets that test-- all three requirements-- on a case by case basis.
Pretty sure tourettes doesn’t make you create four new Facebook accounts
Maybe you overlooked where I said that this guy should be in a facility where he can’t hurt anyone?
In that instance, I would say that they probably should have known the potential risks involved with putting themself in that situation.
So you’re saying that people with disabilities should be excluded from society?