Court Opinion

ID: 9658924
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 21:22:25.440188+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:14:01.712661
License: Public Domain

WILLIAM A. BABLITCH, J.
¶ 61. (concurring). In State v. Perkins, 2001 WI 46, 243 Wis. 2d 141, 626 N.W.2d 762, the crime charged required that the speaker's intent to threaten was an element of the crime. I joined that opinion because that element was present. However, here the crime charged does not require intent as an element.
¶ 62. In the present case, we are dealing with speech, and only speech, not conduct. We must tread carefully as we skirt perilously close to First Amendment protections. Accordingly, when dealing with speech alone in the context of a crime that does not require intent, I would adopt a test that focuses on both the subjective intent of the speaker and the perspectives of a reasonable listener.
¶ 63. In particular, I would adopt the following test. A "true threat" is not a statement of hyperbole, jest, political dissent, or other similarly protected speech. Rather, a "true threat" is a statement that is *248intended to convey, and does convey to a reasonable listener, a serious expression of an intent to inflict harm. In making this determination, the totality of the circumstances at the time of the statement must be considered, including what was said, how it was said, by whom and to whom, and in what context. From the perspective of the speaker, the focus is on the speaker's subjective intent. It is not necessary that the speaker actually intended to carry out the threat or that the speaker had the actual ability to carry out the threat; it is only necessary that the speaker intended to convey a serious expression of an intent to inflict harm. From the perspective of the listener, the focus is on whether an objectively reasonable listener would perceive the statement as a serious expression of an intent to inflict harm.
¶ 64. Because the story written by Douglas does not come within the definition of either test of "true threat," I respectfully concur.