Free Speech and the "White Nationalist" Radio Host

It's unlikely that one could find a more loathsome figure on talk radio than New Jersey's Hal Turner, a "white nationalist" (read: neo-Nazi) freakazoid and failed congressional candidate. Turner has penchant for calling for the deaths of his political enemies, shouting that "illegal immigrants are breaking the law, and people like me should break the law as well by shooting them down," and calling for "a full day of violence against blacks…complete with lynchings, church burnings, drive-by shootings and bombings to put these subhuman animals back in their place." Charming, isn't he?

Turner was sentenced to 33 months in prison today for writing that "three appellate judges in Chicago 'deserved to die' for overturning a local ban on handguns," according to the New York Daily News. Last year, Washington Post staff writer Peter Slevin provided a helpful summary of the case and the attendant free speech issues raised by Turner's prosecution:

"Let me be the first to say this plainly: These Judges deserve to be killed," Turner wrote on his blog on June 2, according to the FBI. "Their blood will replenish the tree of liberty. A small price to pay to assure freedom for millions."

The next day, Turner posted photographs of the appellate judges and a map showing the Chicago courthouse where they work, noting the placement of "anti-truck bomb barriers." When an FBI agent appeared at the door of his New Jersey home, Turner said he meant no harm.

An interesting wrinkle: between radio rants against the "Amero," Turner was informing for the FBI and claimed in court that he his suborning of murder was at the behest of the bureau, in an attempt to smoke out extremists.