From U.S. v. Sryniawski, decided yesterday by the Eighth Circuit (Judge Steven Colloton, joined by Judge Bobby Shepherd and Chief Judge Lavenski Smith):
Dennis Sryniawski was charged with federal offenses of cyberstalking and extortion after he sent a series of e-mails to a candidate for the Nebraska legislature. A jury acquitted Sryniawski of extortion but convicted him of cyberstalking, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2261A(2)(B)…. We conclude that the evidence was insufficient under a proper interpretation of the cyberstalking statute, and therefore reverse the conviction….
Section 2261A(2)(B) is potentially quite broad, on its face something like the criminalization of the intentional infliction of emotional distress tort, limited to electronic communications, but with no exception for speech on matters of public concern (even though the Court held in Snyder v. Phelps and Hustler v. Falwell that speech on matters of public concern is protected against emotional distress liability by the First Amendment):
