In February 2020, Aish told Kindschy and her co-workers: “I pray you guys make it home safely for another day or two until you turn to Christ and repent. You still have time.”
In court, Kindschy argued that Aish’s messages were “threatening,” thus leading to the Trempealeau County judge issuing a four-year injunction banning Aish from being anywhere near her. While a state appeals court upheld this ruling in 2022 following Aish’s appeal, the state’s Supreme Court ordered on Thursday to dismiss it completely.
The Supreme Court unanimously agreed with Aish’s assertions that his dialogue with Kindschy — which occurred on a public sidewalk — was free speech protected under the First Amendment.
Furthermore, the unanimous ruling cited the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court case Counterman v. Colorado, which questioned the nature of a “true threat” unprotected by the First Amendment following a Colorado man’s conviction for stalking.
The case held that the First Amendment requires the government to prove at a minimum that the defendant “consciously disregarded a substantial risk that his communications would be viewed as threatening violence.”
Justice Rebecca Bradley concurred in Thursday’s judgment, stating in a separate opinion that “Aish’s statements could not be of true threats of violence because he disclaimed any desire for violence to befall Kindschy.”
Credit: Source link
