A defendant was charged with one count of transmission of an interstate threat to injure or kill another person in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 875(c) based on an online comment stating, "I wish someone would in alive him." The indictment did not specify where the comment was posted, to whom it was directed, or the identity of the referenced "him." However, a search warrant affidavit identified the target as United States District Court Judge John L. Badalamenti.

Judge Badalamenti, an adjunct professor at the University of Florida who taught a seminar on originalism in fall 2024, contacted the United States Marshals Service for the Middle District of Florida on June 22, 2025, regarding a threat linked to reactions from a June 21, 2025, New York Times article titled "A White Nationalist Wrote a Law School Paper Promoting Racist Views, It won Him an Award." The article discussed a student's paper arguing that the framers of the Constitution intended the phrase "We the People" to refer exclusively to white people.

The government argued that the phrase "in alive him" was a typographical error for "unalive him," meaning to kill him, and thus constituted a threat. However, the court dismissed the indictment, concluding as a matter of law that the post did not meet the legal standard for a true threat.

The dismissal referenced precedent, including a 1945 case noting that a statement suggesting someone "should or ought to kill the President" without indication of intent to act does not amount to a threat. Similarly, a 2011 case affirmed dismissal of an indictment where a statement was hypothetical and conditional, not threatening bodily harm to any particular individual.

The Third Circuit has reasoned that a wish could constitute a threat in the right context, but in this case, the court found the comment insufficient to establish a true threat.

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