Bill would make it easier to get online threat convictions

A group of Democratic Senators is pushing legislation that would make it easier to convict people who make violent threats online. The bill, led by Sen Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), is a response to a Supreme Court decision in 2015 that reversed the conviction of Anthony Elonis, who had been sentenced for making violent threats against his estranged wife, a kindergarten class and an FBI agent on Facebook. It is already a federal crime to post threats to kidnap or injure a person. But the new bill clarifies the level of intent required for a conviction. “This bill will establish an explicit intent requirement for the federal threats statute, eliminating ambiguities that make it harder for prosecutors, victims, and defendants alike to know what conduct is criminal,” said Sen Dick Durbin (D-IL) who also sponsored the bill.