Counterman v. Colorado (600 U.S. 66)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 27, 2023 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 600 U.S. 66 · 143 S. Ct. 2106
- Decided
- June 27, 2023
- Term
- October Term 2022
- Vote
- 7–2
- Majority author
- Justice Kagan
- Issue area
- First Amendment
- Disposition
- Vacated and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
(Slip Opinion) OCTOBER TERM, 2022 1 Syllabus NOTE: Where it is feasible, a syllabus (headnote) will be released, as is being done in connection with this case, at the time the opinion is issued. The syllabus constitutes no part of the opinion of the Court but has been prepared by the Reporter of Decisions for the convenience of the reader. See United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co., 200 U. S. 321 , 337. SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES Syllabus COUNTERMAN v. COLORADO CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF APPEALS OF COLORADO No. 22–138. Argued April 19, 2023—Decided June 27, 2023 From 2014 to 2016, petitioner Billy Counterman sent hundreds of Face- book messages to C. W., a local singer and musician. The two had never met, and C. W. did not respond. In fact, she tried repeatedly to block him, but each time, Counterman created a new Facebook account and resumed contacting C. W. Several of his messages envisaged vio- lent harm befalling her. Counterman’s messages put C. W. in fear and upended her daily existence: C. W. stopped walking alone, declined so- cial engagements, and canceled some of her performances. C. W. even- tually contacted the authorities. The State charged Counterman un- der a Colorado statute making it unlawful to “[r]epeatedly . . . make[ ] any form of communication with another person” in “a manner that would cause a reasonable person to suffer serious emotional…
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