The U.S. Supreme Court dodged a constitutional question about the degree of intent required to jail someone for making a threat, but it did address the issue on narrow statutory grounds in a case that came out of the Third Circuit.

Given the high court's avoidance of the constitutional issue, the split among federal circuits on the application of the true-threats exception to the First Amendment still stands, according to court watchers.

When the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled on the case, Elonis v. United States, it followed the lead of most circuits that have ruled on the issue—with the exception of the Ninth and Tenth circuits — and declined to interpret a 2003 opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court as requiring subjective intent from the speaker in order to trigger the true-threat exception to the First Amendment's protection of speech.