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First Amendment practice project
Intakes on our First Amendment rights.

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Part of the emoji exhibit at the Eyebeam gallery in New York City, on Dec. 14, 2013.

By Colin Daileda2015-02-07 20:41:12 UTC

When a 17-year-old from New York City was arrested and charged last month with making terrorist threats, the primary focus of the charge was two emoji.

Osiris Aristy posted several Facebook statuses last month that may not have explicitly threatened police, but included gun emoji pointing at emoji of police officers, which the New York City Police Department interpreted as a threat. While the terrorism charge was dropped, the case has raised questions over whether text and emoji receive equal protection under the U.S. First Amendment.

Aristy's lawyer said the NYPD overreacted; some would agree, but there is no definitive answer yet.

Although the law is murky when it comes to emoji, two things are clear, according to legal experts: First, symbols are as protected by the First Amendment as text, which theoretically means emoji are covered. Second, the terrorism charge would hinge on whether or not Aristy had made a "true threat."

A "true threat" is difficult to define. It requires knowing the intent of the message, and determining whether someone who heard or saw the message would feel threatened. But interpretations of emoji can vary.

It really comes down to whats surrounding the matter," Bradley Shear, a lawyer who focuses on social media law, told Mashable. "When someone sends an emoji, it can mean a whole bunch of different things.

On one hand, Aristy posted his emoji-littered statuses on Facebook for all to see. He didn't direct them at any particular officer, even if he clearly didn't like police.

"F*ck the 83 104 79 98 73 PCTKKKK," Aristy wrote in one status, which include a police officer emoji and two gun emoji. The numbers refer to NYPD precincts.

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Emoji arrest raises questions of First Amendment protection

Book Review | Importing The First Amendment By Evgeny Morozov
BOOK REVIEW OF YOUR FAVORITE BOOK =--- Where to buy this book? ISBN: 9781901362282 Book Review of Importing the First Amendment by Evgeny Morozov If you want to add where to...

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Book Review | Importing The First Amendment By Evgeny Morozov - Video

The Twenty-first Amendment (Amendment XXI) to the United States Constitution repealed the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which had mandated nationwide Prohibition on alcohol on January 17, 1920. The Twenty-first Amendment was ratified on December 5, 1933. It is unique among the 27 amendments of the U.S. Constitution for being the only one to have been ratified by state ratifying conventions.

Section 1. The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.

Section 2. The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.

Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

The Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution had ushered in a period known as Prohibition, during which the manufacture, distribution, and sale of alcoholic beverages was illegal. Passage of the Eighteenth Amendment in 1919 was the crowning achievement of the temperance movement, but it soon proved highly unpopular. Crime rates soared under Prohibition as gangsters, such as Chicago's Al Capone, became rich from a profitable, often violent black market for alcohol. The federal government was incapable of stemming the tide: enforcement of the Volstead Act proved to be a nearly impossible task and corruption was rife among law enforcement agencies.[1] In 1932, wealthy industrialist John D. Rockefeller, Jr. stated in a letter:

When Prohibition was introduced, I hoped that it would be widely supported by public opinion and the day would soon come when the evil effects of alcohol would be recognized. I have slowly and reluctantly come to believe that this has not been the result. Instead, drinking has generally increased; the speakeasy has replaced the saloon; a vast army of lawbreakers has appeared; many of our best citizens have openly ignored Prohibition; respect for the law has been greatly lessened; and crime has increased to a level never seen before.[2]

As more and more Americans opposed the Eighteenth Amendment, a political movement grew for its repeal. However, repeal was complicated by grassroots politics. Although the U.S. Constitution provides two methods for ratifying constitutional amendments, only one method had been used up until that time; and that was for ratification by the state legislatures of three-fourths of the states. However, the wisdom of the day was that the lawmakers of many states were either beholden to or simply fearful of the temperance lobby. For that reason, when Congress formally proposed the repeal of Prohibition on February 20, 1933 (with the requisite two-thirds having voted in favor in each house; 63 to 21 in the United States Senate and 289 to 121 in the United States House of Representatives), they chose the other ratification method established by Article V, that being via state conventions. The Twenty-first Amendment is the only constitutional amendment ratified by state conventions rather than by the state legislatures.

The Congress proposed the Twenty-first Amendment on February 20, 1933.[3]

The proposed amendment was adopted on December 5, 1933. It is the only amendment to have been ratified by state ratifying conventions, specially selected for the purpose.[4] All other amendments have been ratified by state legislatures. It is also the only amendment that was approved for the explicit purpose of repealing a previously existing amendment to the Constitution. The Twenty-first Amendment ending national prohibition became officially effective on December 15, though people started drinking openly before that date.[5]

The various responses of the 48 states is as follows:

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Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution ...

Book Review | The First Amendment And Related Statutes By Eugene Volokh
BOOK REVIEW OF YOUR FAVORITE BOOK =--- Where to buy this book? ISBN: 9781599418674 Book Review of The First Amendment and Related Statutes by Eugene Volo...

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