NEW YORK POST: Preet Bharara’s off-base strike at Internet trolls.
A lot of cretins talk trash when protected by the anonymity of an online account.
Problem is, the Supreme Court ruled that law-enforcement action’s not justified unless there is a “true threat” — made with the credible intent of carrying it out.
The comments on Reason are plainly just idiotic hot air.
So the subpoena seems a dangerous case of overreaction — by an office whose attorneys must regularly appear before the same judge.
Yes, the US Marshal’s Office is investigating real threats against the judge posted on the “dark Web” — sites that require special settings or permission to access.But that doesn’t justify treating every online blowhard on a public site as a likely assassin.
For better or worse, the Web encourages hyperbole. Policing it requires prudence — which Bharara’s office seems to have ignored with this subpoena.
This is the prosecutorial equivalent of a brushback pitch — trying to tell people that talking shit about a federal judge will get you in trouble no matter what the First Amendment says. That’s an abuse of authority, for which Preet Bharara should be punished. But, of course, he won’t be, because prosecutors aren’t accountable for their abuses of authority.