| Lebell |
09-15-2003 08:21 AM |
From The United States Code (USC) TITLE 18 > PART I > CHAPTER 41 > Sec. 871.
Quote:
Sec. 871. - Threats against President and successors to the Presidency
(a)
Whoever knowingly and willfully deposits for conveyance in the mail or for a delivery from any post office or by any letter carrier any letter, paper, writing, print, missive, or document containing any threat to take the life of, to kidnap, or to inflict bodily harm upon the President of the United States, the President-elect, the Vice President or other officer next in the order of succession to the office of President of the United States, or the Vice President-elect, or knowingly and willfully otherwise makes any such threat against the President, President-elect, Vice President or other officer next in the order of succession to the office of President, or Vice President-elect, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
(b)
The terms ''President-elect'' and ''Vice President-elect'' as used in this section shall mean such persons as are the apparent successful candidates for the offices of President and Vice President, respectively, as ascertained from the results of the general elections held to determine the electors of President and Vice President in accordance with title 3, United States Code, sections 1 and 2. The phrase ''other officer next in the order of succession to the office of President'' as used in this section shall mean the person next in the order of succession to act as President in accordance with title 3, United States Code, sections 19 and 20
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From US v Ogren
Quote:
United States v. Ogren, No. 00-0169 (Section 871(a) of Title 18, United States Code, prohibiting threatening the President of the United States, requires that the Government prove two essential elements beyond a reasonable doubt: (1) that the threat rendered was a "true" threat, and (2) that the threat was knowing and willful).
United States v. Ogren, No. 00-0169 (under Section 871(a) of Title 18, United States Code, prohibiting threatening the President of the United States, only “true threats” satisfy the statute’s threshold of criminal conduct and put the conduct beyond the protections of the First Amendment; whether a statement is a “true threat” is determined by (1) the context, (2) whether the threat is expressly conditional in nature, and (3) the reaction of the listeners).
United States v. Ogren, No. 00-0169 (under Section 871(a) of Title 18, United States Code, prohibiting threatening the President of the United States, the threat must be “knowing and willful”; whether a threat is knowing and willful is determined by an objective test requiring only that the defendant intentionally make a statement, written or oral, in a context or under such circumstances wherein a reasonable person would foresee that the statement would be interpreted by those to whom the maker communicates the statement as a serious expression of an intention to inflict bodily harm upon or to take the life of the President).
United States v. Ogren, No. 00-0169 (appellant’s threats against the President of the United States, made while appellant was in pretrial confinement, where legally sufficient for a rational trier of fact to find that appellant threatened the life of the President, in violation of 18 USC § 871(a), where: (1) the threats were “true threats” in that they were not conditional and the specific context as well as the reaction of the listeners set these words apart from appellant’s other expressions; and (2) the threats were knowing and willful because appellant should have reasonably foreseen that his threats would be understood to be more than a crude method of responding to his confinement).
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So what while you may not be committing a crime by "wishing" that someone would assasinate the president, if the authorities catch wind of it, you WILL get a visit from the Secret Service investigating whether or not (1) the threat rendered was a "true" threat, and (2) that the threat was knowing and willful).
Remember, they don't know if you are kidding or not. Hence, they WILL investigate you. |
