united-states freedom-of-speech
Is it a crime in the United States to say &quot;the people want to bring down the regime&quot;?
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<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/CHPHV.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/CHPHV.jpg" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/Fiberton/status/797723009649876992" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Link</a></p>
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<p>The said law says:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Whoever knowingly or willfully advocates, abets, advises, or teaches
the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or
destroying the government of the United States or the government of
any State, Territory, District or Possession thereof, or the
government of any political subdivision therein, by force or violence,
or by the assassination of any officer of any such government; or</p>
<p>Whoever, with intent to cause the overthrow or destruction of any such
government, prints, publishes, edits, issues, circulates, sells,
distributes, or publicly displays any written or printed matter
advocating, advising, or teaching the duty, necessity, desirability,
or propriety of overthrowing or destroying any government in the
United States by force or violence, or attempts to do so; or</p>
<p>Whoever organizes or helps or attempts to organize any society, group,
or assembly of persons who teach, advocate, or encourage the overthrow
or destruction of any such government by force or violence; or becomes
or is a member of, or affiliates with, any such society, group, or
assembly of persons, knowing the purposes thereof—</p>
<p>Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty
years, or both, and shall be ineligible for employment by the United
States or any department or agency thereof, for the five years next
following his conviction.</p>
<p>If two or more persons conspire to commit any offense named in this
section, each shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more
than twenty years, or both, and shall be ineligible for employment by
the United States or any department or agency thereof, for the five
years next following his conviction.</p>
<p>As used in this section, the terms “organizes” and “organize”, with
respect to any society, group, or assembly of persons, include the
recruiting of new members, the forming of new units, and the
regrouping or expansion of existing clubs, classes, and other units of
such society, group, or assembly of persons. (June 25, 1948, ch. 645,
62 Stat. 808; July 24, 1956, ch. 678, § 2, 70 Stat. 623; Pub. L.
87–486, June 19, 1962, 76 Stat. 103; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII,
§ 330016(1)(N), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2148.)</p>
<p><a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2385" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Reference</a></p>
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<p>My question is,</p>
<p>Does saying,  &quot;the people want to bring down the regime&quot; constitute knowingly or willfully advocating the &quot;overthrowing or destroying the government of the United States or the government of any State, Territory, District or Possession&quot;?</p>

<p>It is not a crime to say, &quot;The people want to bring down the regime.&quot;</p>
<p>This specific tweet is almost certainly not illegal. Even if this guy is subjectively trying to overthrow the government, this would probably be an impossible prosecution for a lot of reasons.</p>
<p>First: <a href="https://casetext.com/statute/united-states-code/title-18-crimes-and-criminal-procedure/part-i-crimes/chapter-115-treason-sedition-and-subversive-activities/section-2385-advocating-overthrow-of-government" rel="nofollow noreferrer">18 USC 2385</a> deals with &quot;overthrow or destruction of the government.&quot; Does &quot;regime&quot; mean the government or does it just mean the Trump administration? I'm guessing it just means the administration, and if that's the case, you're dealing with a matter of public concern rather than a true threat of overthrow. Especially because this comes right after the election, you've got strong arguments that this is commentary on a matter of public concern, e.g., &quot;the people want to end the Trump regime,&quot; or maybe &quot;the people wanted regime change and therefore voted for Trump, or that you need a change in the constitutional form of government to do away with the Electoral College.&quot; Whatever it means, commentary on a matter of public concern cannot be punished under Section 2385. <a href="https://casetext.com/case/rankin-v-mcpherson" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>Rankin v. McPherson</em>, 483 U.S. 378 (1987)</a>.</p>
<p>Second: 18 USC 2385 deals with overthrow by &quot;by force or violence.&quot; To say you want to bring down the regime says nothing about how you want to bring down the regime.</p>
<p>Third: The invocation of the Arab Spring could sort of cut in either direction, as it involved regime changes effected both through nonviolent protest and violent revolution.</p>
<p>Fourth: Even if we interpret this as Ayloush saying that regime change would be good, that he personally wants regime change, or that other people should want or work toward regime change, that's still not enough to get you into the conduct prohibited by Section 2385, which does not prohibit &quot;doctrinal justification of forcible overthrow.&quot; Here's some relevant language from <a href="https://casetext.com/case/noto-v-united-states-2" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>Noto v. United States</em>, 367 U.S. 290 (1961)</a>:</p>
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<p>[T]he mere abstract teaching of Communist theory, including the teaching of the moral propriety or even moral necessity for a resort to force and violence, is not the same as preparing a group for violent action and steeling it to such action. There must be some substantial direct or circumstantial evidence of a call to violence now or in the future which is both sufficiently strong and sufficiently pervasive to lend color to the otherwise ambiguous theoretical material.</p>
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<p>This seems like pretty solidly First Amendment-protected political speech.</p>
