QUOTE (Doom @ Mar 6 2003, 03:04 AM)
QUOTE (Khrymzynn @ Mar 6 2003, 12:28 AM)
5: What precisely is the federal penalty for transmitting a death threat across state lines? What is the appropriate penalty for transmitting a death threat across national boundaries?
And as far as the federal penalty for death threats? It depends on where the threat is coming from, who it is going to, and how serious it is. It also varies depending on state lines and national boundaries.
Perhaps it's time for someone with a
bit of a legal background to step in and provide the 411.
The penalty for a death threat, issued over interstate lines or over international boundaries... quite an interesting topic at this moment.
Being argued right now in Superior Court in Cleveland, Ohio right now is a case where a user in Texas issued a death threat to a user in Idaho over a BBS system physically located in Cleveland.
Let's play pretend. Let's say this instance would have happened in April 2001, which took place before the dreaded 9/11. At this time, he would have been charged with multiple offenses, the most notable of which being felony menacing and a violation of the electronic protection act of 1999. Since the crime took place across state lines, it would have automatically been charged as a federal crime. The issuer would have faced a minimum of two and maximum of 12 years in a federal prison. Most likely, he would have served 1 year 9 months, recieved strict probation, and had the additional penalty of never being legally allowed to use any computing/communications devices again.
However... this is post 9/11 America. What the issuer was charged with was essentially terrorism. He faces life in prison without possibility of parole.
For those living overseas, it's no simple ride either. For starters, nearly every country in the world would bow to an extradition request in the face of a coming massive war, and many of those countries would also try the offender in their country. In other words... foriegn peoples using the internet to threaten Americans often face double jeapordy. Already indicted under these methods are two French men who threatened to kill a New Yorker (this particular issue arose when the NY woman simply stated she was a NY woman, and the French men went off on a tangent about how she was trying to suck for attention RE: 9/11), a New Zealand woman who threatened to come to America and kill a North Carolina man, and a Canadian man who threatened to "saw the head off" of the family of a man living in Washington State.
Of note is the fact that it is almost impossible to threaten someone living in your state without ever having the electronic message travel out of your state. If they live in your state, and you live in Louisiana, and you threaten them on Yahoo!'s chat, you're a candidate for this law being pressed on you due to the fact that Yahoo!'s servers are not in Louisiana. The signal passed out of your state, so you're nailed.
Doom, I have a few bits of advice for you. Number one, you've already tantamountly admitted to murdering people. This is not lost on some of us. While it's most likely that you're 17 and trying to "out-badass" everyone else here, it is quite possible that you are indeed a murderer. Secondly, after making a violent nature known, you're making users here VERY uncomfortable with talk of murder and vampire hunting. I'd watch what you say EXTREMELY closely; you can be tracked to your location and arrested for investigation by federal law agencies if you arouse the interest of the wrong people.
You'll be watched, Doom, by the moderation and administration staff of this site.