From Judge Pedro Delgado-Hernández's opinion today in Rodriguez-Cotto v. Perluisi-Urrutia (D.P.R.):
Article 5.14(a) criminalizes, after the Governor of Puerto Rico has decreed by executive order an emergency or disaster, to knowingly, purposely or recklessly: (1) give a warning or false alarm, knowing that the information is false, in relation to the imminent occurrence of a catastrophe in Puerto Rico; or (2) disseminate, publish, transmit, transfers or circulate through any means of communication, including the media, social networks, or any other means of dissemination, publication or distribution of information, a notice or a false alarm, knowing that the information is false, when as a result of that conduct it puts the life, health, bodily integrity or safety of one or more persons at imminent risk, or endangers public or private property. Properly read, Article 5.14(a) does not survive strict or intermediate scrutiny….
The court reasoned that the proper remedy was generally for the government to rebut false rumors, not to criminalize them:
