Yes, someone can go to jail for threatening to kill you. A credible death threat is a crime under federal law and under every state’s laws, and a conviction can carry anywhere from a few months in county jail to twenty years in federal prison depending on how the threat was delivered, who was targeted, and whether it was tied to an extortion demand. The catch is that not every angry statement counts. Prosecutors have to prove the threat was serious enough to lose First Amendment protection, and the speaker has to have been at least reckless about how the words would land.
When a Death Threat Becomes a Crime
The Supreme Court uses the term “true threat” to describe statements serious enough to fall outside free speech protections. A true threat is a serious expression conveying that the speaker means to commit unlawful violence against a specific person. The Court has pointed to three reasons these statements can be punished: they cause fear, they disrupt people’s lives, and they raise a real possibility that violence will follow.1Legal Information Institute. True Threats – U.S. Constitution Annotated
In the 2023 case Counterman v. Colorado, the Court decided what prosecutors have to prove about the speaker’s state of mind. They must show the speaker acted with at least recklessness, meaning the person was aware that others could view the statements as threatening violence and delivered them anyway.2Supreme Court of the United States. Counterman v. Colorado Prosecutors do not, however, need to prove the speaker actually intended to carry out the violence.3United States Department of Justice Archives. Criminal Resource Manual 1072 – Special Considerations in Proving a Threat
Context does a lot of work. A vague insult during a heated argument is treated very differently than a specific, detailed statement from someone with a history of violence or access to weapons. Courts look at audience reaction, the speaker’s history, whether the speaker had the means to follow through, and how the words were delivered.
Conditional Threats
A threat phrased as a condition, such as “if you talk to my wife again, I’ll kill you,” can still be criminal. Federal prosecutors are instructed not to decline prosecution just because a threat was conditional. If the conduct reasonably appears to be a serious expression of intent to cause harm, charges can follow.4United States Department of Justice Archives. Criminal Resource Manual 1531 – Conditional Threat – Secret Service Protectees
Threats on Social Media
Online threats are harder to read because the usual cues, like tone of voice and physical proximity, are gone. The Counterman Court chose the recklessness standard partly to protect people who post heated or hyperbolic statements without realizing how a stranger might read them.2Supreme Court of the United States. Counterman v. Colorado Repeated, targeted messages aimed at a specific person are far more likely to cross the line than one angry post.
Federal Prison Time for a Death Threat
When a threat crosses state lines, which covers most phone calls, texts, emails, and social media messages, federal law applies. The main federal threat statute makes it a crime to transmit in interstate or foreign commerce any communication containing a threat to injure another person, punishable by up to five years in prison. If the threat accompanies an extortion demand, the maximum jumps to twenty years.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 875 – Interstate Communications
Threats sent through the U.S. Postal Service fall under a separate statute with the same structure: up to five years for a general threat to injure, and up to twenty years when the threat is tied to extortion. Mailed threats directed at a federal judge, federal law enforcement officer, or certain other officials carry an enhanced maximum of ten years.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 876 – Mailing Threatening Communications
Threatening a high-ranking federal official, such as the President, Vice President, a member of Congress, a Cabinet secretary, or the CIA director, triggers its own statute with penalties of up to ten years for a general threat and up to six years for a threatened assault. The same penalties apply to threats against the immediate family members of these officials when the goal is to intimidate or retaliate against the official.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 115 – Influencing, Impeding, or Retaliating Against a Federal Official by Threatening or Injuring a Family Member
State Jail and Prison Time
Every state criminalizes threats of violence. The label varies. Some states call the offense “criminal threats,” others use “terroristic threats,” and a few fold threats into their assault or menacing statutes. The name matters less than how prosecutors choose to charge the case.
In many states, prosecutors have discretion to charge a threat as either a misdemeanor or a felony based on the severity and credibility of the threat, the defendant’s criminal history, whether a weapon was displayed, and whether the target was particularly vulnerable. A misdemeanor conviction generally carries up to a year in jail plus fines and probation. A felony conviction can mean several years in state prison, higher fines, and a permanent felony record.
Some states impose automatic enhancements when a threat is motivated by bias against the victim’s race, religion, sexual orientation, or similar characteristics, moving the charge to a higher offense level. Courts can also order restitution as part of sentencing, requiring the convicted person to reimburse the victim for financial losses caused by the crime.8Department of Justice: Criminal Division. Restitution Process
Consequences Beyond Jail
A conviction creates problems that outlast any sentence. Defendants who accept plea deals without understanding these effects are often blindsided later.
Loss of Gun Rights
A felony conviction for criminal threats triggers a federal ban on possessing, purchasing, or receiving any firearm or ammunition. Federal law prohibits gun possession by anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year of imprisonment.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts Even a misdemeanor conviction can trigger a firearms ban if it qualifies as a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, meaning the threat was directed at a spouse, cohabitant, or co-parent. Anyone subject to a qualifying protective order that includes a finding of credible threat to an intimate partner’s safety is also barred from having guns, whether or not they’ve been convicted of anything.
Immigration Consequences
For noncitizens, a threat conviction can be devastating. Federal immigration law makes any noncitizen deportable who is convicted of a crime of domestic violence after admission to the United States, defined as a crime of violence committed against a spouse, cohabitant, co-parent, or someone similarly situated under domestic violence laws.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1227 – Deportable Aliens A conviction can also be classified as an aggravated felony for immigration purposes if a sentence of one year or more is imposed, which blocks most forms of relief from deportation.
Background Check Effects
A felony conviction shows up on background checks and can block employment, professional licensing, public housing, and educational financial aid. Even a misdemeanor threat conviction can disqualify someone from jobs involving vulnerable populations. In many states, a court-issued protective order is a matter of public record and appears in background searches on its own.
What to Do If Someone Threatens to Kill You
If you believe you are in immediate danger or the person is nearby, call 911. Documentation can wait; safety cannot.
When the danger is not immediate, the strength of any future case comes down to what evidence exists beyond your word. Write down the exact words used, as close to verbatim as you can. Memory fades fast. Note the date, time, and location, and record the method: in person, phone call, text message, social media, email. If anyone else witnessed the threat, get their name and contact information right away.
For electronic threats, preservation is critical. Screenshot the message with the sender’s username or profile, the timestamp, and the full text. Save the URL to the sender’s profile. For threatening emails, save the full message including the email header, which contains information that can help investigators trace the sender. Do not crop or edit the original content, because even well-meant cleanup can raise questions about authenticity later. For ongoing harassment, keep a running log of every incident. Patterns are often more persuasive to prosecutors than a single message, because they undercut any defense that the statement was a one-time outburst.
Then contact your local police department through their non-emergency line and say you need to report a criminal threat. Bring your documentation. The officer will create an official report. Ask for the report number and keep it. You’ll need it for a protective order, for following up on the investigation, or for a civil lawsuit.
Getting a Protective Order
You can also petition your local court for a protective order, sometimes called a restraining order or order of protection. These orders typically prohibit the person from contacting you, coming near your home or workplace, and possessing firearms. Emergency or temporary orders can often be issued the same day you file, without the other person present, if a judge finds you face immediate danger. A full hearing follows, usually within a few weeks.
Under the federal Violence Against Women Act, states receiving VAWA funding must certify that victims of domestic violence, stalking, and sexual assault are not charged fees for filing, issuing, or serving a protective order. Orders unrelated to domestic violence or stalking, such as general civil harassment restraining orders, may carry filing fees in some jurisdictions.
Violating a protective order is itself a separate crime, usually a misdemeanor that can escalate to a felony for repeat violations. For noncitizens, violating a protective order involving threats of violence is an independent ground for deportation.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1227 – Deportable Aliens
Suing the Person Who Threatened You
Criminal prosecution is the government’s case, not yours. You don’t decide whether charges are filed, and many threat cases end without prosecution because the evidence is borderline or the prosecutor’s office is stretched thin. A civil lawsuit is a separate path where you control the process and the standard of proof is lower, preponderance of the evidence rather than beyond a reasonable doubt.
Two legal theories commonly support civil claims based on death threats. The first is assault, which in civil law means intentionally putting someone in reasonable fear of imminent harmful contact. No physical touching is required. A credible death threat, delivered in a way that makes harm feel imminent, can satisfy this standard. The second is intentional infliction of emotional distress, which requires showing that the defendant’s conduct was outrageous, was done intentionally or recklessly, and caused severe emotional harm.11Legal Information Institute. Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress Courts set a high bar for “outrageous,” but explicit death threats, especially repeated ones, frequently clear it.
Damages in a civil threat case can include therapy costs, lost wages, relocation expenses, and compensation for emotional suffering. A civil suit and a criminal case can proceed at the same time, and a criminal conviction makes the civil case substantially easier to win because many of the same facts have already been proven to a higher standard.