An excerpt from today's long opinion in U.S. v. Al-Timimi, by Fourth Circuit Judge James Wynn, joined by Judges Stephanie Thacker and Pamela Harris:
Ali Al-Timimi was convicted based entirely on words he spoke in the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks—words that were inflammatory, disturbing, and deeply offensive, but that urged no concrete criminal plan and did not provide operational assistance for the commission of any particular offense. For two decades, Al-Timimi has been imprisoned or confined to his home while his criminal case has made its way through appeals, remands, motions, and delays.
Because the Constitution forbids criminal punishment for protected advocacy—however odious the content of that advocacy—we conclude that Al-Timimi's speech remained protected under the First Amendment….
The court concluded that the speech (some details of which are quoted below) wasn't unprotected incitement:
