Prosecution of protected speech

Prosecution of protected speech is the use of criminal law to punish expression the First Amendment protects. Concrete forms include charges for "incitement" applied to speech that does not meet the imminent-lawless-action standard, the use of vague disorderly-conduct statutes against speakers at public events, charges for symbolic acts protected as expression, and the prosecution of officials' critics under loosely defined harassment or threat statutes. Genuinely unprotected speech — true threats, fighting words, incitement properly defined — is a separate matter; the publication tracks cases where the prosecution itself is the problem.