Commonwealth v Carter

A young girlfriend (17) repeatedly encouraged and pressured her young boyfriend (18) to commit suicide, which in fact occurred. The repeated nature and intensity of this pressure reveals the young woman to be most decidedly not a good person.

The question before the Supreme Court of Massachusetts is whether speech alone can result in a proper criminal conviction for involuntary manslaughter.

Freedom of speech is an important principle. Today, the court deals with when freedom of speech does and should yield within the context of the criminal law.

Grab a drink - this one gets dark.