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Stephen S. Bona v. Illinois

Paid petition · Appellate Court of Illinois, Second District, No. 2-16-0581 · judgment December 10, 2018

Certiorari denied · November 2, 2020
Pre-decision estimate: 2% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Question presented

  1. Whether, in a case involving political speech, the first amendment allows a state to criminalize a knowing threat of violence directed against a political official without a showing of an intent to do harm, and whether a “true threat” requires an intent to do harm.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Stephen Louis Richards
Law Office of Stephen L. Richards

For respondent
—

Case

Subject area
First Amendment (estimated from the questions presented, in the Supreme Court Database’s categories)

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Order
Order list, November 2, 2020 · Certiorari denied

Proceedings

  1. Nov 02 2020
    Petition DENIED. Justice Barrett took no part in the consideration or decision of this petition.
  2. Oct 14 2020
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/30/2020.
  3. Aug 24 2020
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due October 2, 2020)