In June 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Counterman v. Colorado, overturning a stalking conviction based on hundreds of Facebook messages sent to a local female musician. The Court found that Colorado’s stalking statute, which used an objective standard for threatening communications, violated constitutional free speech protections. It held that the government must prove the defendant’s subjective intent to threaten, requiring at least a reckless mental state for a criminal conviction based on speech. The decision marked a significant shift in the law surrounding “true threats,” an exception to First Amendment protections.