In Watts v. United States (1968), the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the conviction of Robert Watts, who had been charged with threatening President Lyndon B. Johnson under a federal statute that criminalizes threats against the president's life or safety. The case arose from an anti-war rally at which Watts stated, in what he claimed was a political hyperbole, that if he were drafted and forced to carry a rifle, "the first man I want to get in my sights is L.B.J." The court ruled 5-1 that this statement did not constitute a true threat but was instead protected by the First Amendment as free speech because it was made during political discourse and lacked intent or likelihood of execution.

In the dissenting opinion for Watts v. United States, Justice Abe Fortas argued that the defendant's statement was a threat and should be treated as such under federal law. He believed that the majority misinterpreted both the intent of Congress in passing this legislation and its application to this case. According to him, it is not necessary for a threat to be immediate or likely to occur; rather, it is enough if it reasonably appears capable of being carried out. Furthermore, he asserted that whether or not Watts intended his words as a joke does not matter because threats are judged by how they are perceived by others - particularly their target - rather than by what their author may have meant them as. In conclusion, Justice Fortas felt strongly that Watts' comments constituted an illegal threat against President Johnson's life and thus disagreed with the Court’s decision overturning his conviction.