As part of Law Day the Practising Law Institute will offer a free briefing via webcast on The Supreme Court & Social Media: Bringing the First Amendment into the 21st Century on May 1, 20115 at 1:00 pm Eastern.

The inevitable happened last December when a case involving Facebook made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.  Elonis v. United States presents the issue of what is a “true threat,” and does it amount to speech that is unprotected by the First Amendment?  

Anthony Elonis used Facebook to make angry statements after his wife, Tara, left with their two children. He was fired from his job in an amusement park after posting on Facebook a picture of a knife being held against the throat of a woman who had accused him of sexual harassment. After his firing, he posted messages that said that he still had keys and could come do violence at the amusement park where he had worked.  He posted messages that he was going to go to a local kindergarten class and commit an act of unprecedented violence. Elonis was convicted for violating 18 U.S.C. §875(c), which prohibits transmitting “in interstate or foreign commerce any communication containing any threat to kidnap any person or any threat to injure the person of another.”   The case is now before the Supreme Court and it is representative of many cases involving the First Amendment and social media.

The presentation will address:

• Emerging issues of social media and the First Amendment
• What is a “true threat” in the 21st century?
• Other First Amendment issues such as prosecutions for revenge porn and the First Amendment, student discipline for internet speech, and suits for invasion of privacy for what is placed on social media

Register now for this free special event in celebration of Law Day and plan to join Erwin Chemerinsky, Founding Dean and Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of California, Irvine School of Law for this important discussion.

More Information and Registration