Opinion ID: 2179437
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The First Amendment Free Speech Argument.

Text: Defendant urges that, because he was a published photographer of women's feet, this criminal prosecution violates his First Amendment rights. We reject this claim. Assuming that there is a First Amendment right to publish photographs of women's feet, that does not include a right to accomplish that objective in a manner that is intended to threaten, intimidate, or alarm the subject. In State v. Fratzke, 446 N.W.2d 781, 783 (Iowa 1989), we held that First Amendment considerations raised with respect to subsection (1)(a) of this statute were obviated because of the requirement that the communication be without legitimate purpose. A similar requirement exists with respect to the contact that is criminalized under subsection (1)(b) of the statute. Because there must be a specific intent to threaten, intimidate, or alarm, the only legitimate purpose that will avoid the criminal status conferred by the statute would be a legitimate purpose to threaten, intimidate, or alarm. There is no claim that such purpose existed in the present case.