I think it is reasonably clear this was a reference to the Iroquois Theatre fire where 602 people died. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroquois_Theatre_fire https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-theater-blaze-killed-hundreds-for... Thanks, Donald =============================== Donald E. Eastlake 3rd +1-508-333-2270 (cell) 2386 Panoramic Circle, Apopka, FL 32703 USA d3e3e3@gmail.com On Mon, Jan 11, 2021 at 5:56 PM John Levine <johnl@iecc.com> wrote:
In article <35226213b6fcdc4a9c94f0bf3047201c@mail.dessus.com> you write:
That would make me wonder how many cases there have been of someone "shouting fire in a crowded theatre" where there was no fire and at least one person died as a result; ...
Probably none. That metaphor was used by Justice Holmes in a now-discredited Supreme Court decision Schenck v. U.S., which was actually about handing out anti-draft leaflets during WW I. It was overwrought then and has never been a useful guide to free speech law.
This seems a wee bit distant from Parler or TOS or Sec 230.
R's, John