A defendant was charged with one count of transmitting 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 communicated, or identify the referenced individual.

The individual referred to as "him" was apparently United States District Court Judge John L. Badalamenti, who on June 22, 2025, contacted the United States Marshals Service (USMS) for the Middle District of Florida 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." Judge Badalamenti is also an adjunct professor at the University of Florida and taught a seminar on originalism in the fall semester of 2024.

The court noted that the phrase "in alive him" was likely a typographical error intended to mean "unalive him," interpreted as a threat to kill. 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.

In its reasoning, the court referenced precedent indicating that mere wishes or hopes for harm do not constitute punishable threats unless accompanied by an indication of intent to act. For example, the court cited a 1945 case stating that if someone says another "should or ought to kill the President" without declaring intent to commit the act, it does not amount to a threat. Similarly, a 2011 case affirmed dismissal of an indictment where statements were hypothetical and conditional, not threatening bodily harm to any individual.

The Third Circuit also reasoned that while a wish can constitute a threat in the right context, a reasonable jury must find that the defendant was prepared to commit the act himself, which was not established in this case.

This ruling highlights the legal nuances in distinguishing between protected speech and punishable threats under federal law.

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