State v. Thorne

My difficulty with the plurality opinion1 is that it has internal inconsistencies which I am unable to resolve particularly when applied to the facts of this case. On the one hand it initially announces that the “legislature may properly limit certain [speech] activities such as ... harassing others over a telephone,” (Plurality op. at 453), and then concludes in the text with this statement: “Again, it must be stressed that the statute requires intent to harass. If a citizen intends legitimate communication, he may call and call repeatedly without fear of prosecution. Under this statute he…