Also known as: incite · incites · incited · inciting · incitee · inciter · inciteful
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
Speech advocating the use of force or law violation that is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action. Mere abstract advocacy of violence or illegality remains protected.
Speech advocating the use of force or law violation that is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action. Mere abstract advocacy of violence or illegality remains protected.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
The act of persuading another person to commit a crime by inciting, counseling, advising, inducing, urging, or commanding the conduct with specific intent that the solicited person actually commit the crime. The offense is complete upon the solicitation regardless of any response.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
The act of persuading another person to commit a crime by inciting, counseling, advising, inducing, urging, or commanding the conduct with specific intent that the solicited person actually commit the crime. The offense is complete upon the solicitation regardless of any response.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
Ivy Ibarra addressed a crowd and urged listeners to immediately storm a government building that afternoon to disrupt an ongoing proceeding. She provided maps and timing details that made the unlawful entry likely. The speech meets the requirements for unprotected incitement.
Iris Irons handed out contraceptive samples while discussing resistance to restrictive laws. The statements did not direct listeners to commit imminent unlawful acts. The speech therefore receives First Amendment protection.
Imani Idowu burned a cross on private property while expressing racial animus. The act was evaluated under fighting-words and true-threat doctrines rather than incitement standards. The display was treated as low-value speech subject to content-based limits.
Ideal Solutions published a parody advertisement that ridiculed a public figure. The content contained no call for imminent lawless action. The publication therefore remained protected expression.
Indigo Textiles circulated an article accusing a private citizen of serious misconduct. The statements were evaluated under defamation standards rather than incitement rules. Liability turned on fault and harm rather than any call to immediate violence.
The government may criminalize advocacy only when it is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to do so. Abstract advocacy of violence or illegality remains protected speech.
Supporting sources
Isabella Ingram offered cash to Idris Ives and supplied detailed instructions on how to start a fight with a critic at a specific location. She spoke in a serious tone and conditioned payment on successful ejection of the target. The statements constitute common-law solicitation.
No. The offense is complete at the moment the defendant makes the solicitation. The law does not require agreement, any step toward commission, or any response from the person solicited.
Supporting sources
No. Culpability is measured by the circumstances as the solicitor believed them to be even if the solicitation could not in fact have succeeded.
Supporting sources
No. Once the defendant has made the solicitation, subsequent withdrawal or renunciation ordinarily does not constitute a defense.
Supporting sources
…the profane, the libelous, and the insulting or fighting' words—those which by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace. It has been well observed that such utterances are no essential part of any exposition of ideas, and are of such slight social value as a step to truth…