Elonis Case News Today

Youre trying to decide whether to convict a guy like this one, do you think about his facebook post from the point of view of the impact on the viewer, on tara elonis, who was reading it, do you think it was reasonable for her to fear him? or do you think about whether he specifically intended to threaten harm? in other words, is it his perspective and what he says about what he meant or is it the effect it had on the person who was reading the post and was the target? >> youve written about tha...

It shows us the dramatically different ways that black and white people see violence. if we talk about racial polarization, i wonder if weve gotten better in the last half century. the general assumption is that the moral arc of the universe is bending toward justice, hey, look, we have a black president. is it not just that racial stereotyping and bias is more buried underneath the surface but is as potent as ever? >> absolutely its as potent as ever when you look at the behavior of police offi...

Previous decisions to side with either of the elonises? >> i think this case is somewhat of a question mark for the justices in general. this is a very pro, big first amendment interpretation, pro free speech court. we may see liberal and conservative justices airing on the side of giving more breathing room to free speech. youre right that theyre not necessarily masters of technology. i cant imagine they have their own facebook pages -- >> i feel like they dont even communicate by e-mail, if th...

Lose by being more forthright about racism among whites directed towards black americans, but its certainly the case that there are political repercussions to talking about this because, frankly, people just dont want to hear that much about it. in talking about it could harm them. >> sam, i want to ask you about that. youre standing as you are on the north lawn of the white house. the president has taken up a lot of things that were potentially libellous. if you talk to folks within the adminis...

They really do disrupt other peoples lives. people who are the subject of threats may struggle to eat and sleep. they may feel like they have to leave their homes because theyre not safe there. and so thats the sort of tension here. on the internet theres obviously lots and lots of opportunity to say different things, including to post threats in a public way that we didnt really have to the same degree before the internet. and also when people put up posts that you dont get tone of voice and yo...

Pattern and that makes it credible and also because its move from the tabloids into the mainstream media. i think that helps women feel that it more acceptable to come forward. it will be interesting to see how courts deal with that new sense of recognition and awareness. >> i feel like also specifically to go back to the alonis -- i guess we wonder when we think about the court handing out this decision, it seems like it could be pretty far reaching and pretty seismic in terms of what it dictat...

Can chatter on facebook be considered criminal? the supreme court hears a major case on free speech and social media. more on that coming up next. but first josh lipton has the cnbc market wrap. hi, josh. >> hi, alex. starks declined on monday due to a lackluster start to the holiday shopping season. the dow doesnt 51 points, s&p fell 14, the nasdaq dropped 64 points, snapping its longest streak since april. sheets per spill the roll just disappeared. i knew i shouldve bought bounty bounty is 2x...

To you in terms of your thoughts on what rich lowrie said on "meet the press." its kind of like, hey, just dont do bad stuff and you wont get shot. >> in the specific case of michael brown, its really worth emphasizing that the narrative is one that fits the evidence presented to the grand jury but its not the on one that fits the evidence presented to the grand jury. its very interesting, i think, hour darren wilsons account, which is the one lowrie is using, has become essentially the truth of...

In the headlines. over at the supreme court this morning, justices heard a case involving threats from a man using facebook to harass his ex-wife. the court will decide whether threatening communications on facebook can be classified as a crime. joining me now is staff writer at the "new york times" magazine, emily bazalon. this is a man who posted that he wanted to see her soaked in blood and dying. the case seems to hinge on a concept of true threat. can you sort of explain to everybody what t...