Alaska Legislature has lost their minds, and now they are threatening President Obama

[onenote]

50. Member of the Supreme Court bar here

As I said, threatening the president is not and never has been prosecuted as an act of treason in the United States, nor could it be under the narrow definition of treason in the Constitution.

It is a federal crime (and has been been since 1917). However, drawing the line between what is and is not a true threat is often difficult. Thousands of potential threats are issued against the President every year. Most are investigated, but only a relative few are prosecuted as true threats. While the results are so varied as to make predictions somewhat difficult, this particular example probably would be treated as political hyperbole and not prosecuted. (In Watts v. US, the Supreme Court case I mentioned, the accused (who was 18 at the time) was participating in a public rally on the Washington Monument grounds. During a discussion amongst a group of participants in the rally, one member of the group suggested that the young people present should get more education before expressing their views. The accused responded by saying, "They always holler at us to get an education. And now I have already received my draft classification as 1-A and I have got to report for my physical this Monday coming. I am not going. If they ever make me carry a rifle the first man I want to get in my sights is L.B.J."

The Supreme Court found that this was political hyperbole and not a true threat.

Again, there are other cases where a true threat has been found that are difficult to distinguish. But all things considered, I suspect the authorities will not seek to prosecute anyone in Alaska for their stupid poem.