“The presumption is that when you speak English words and you’re an English speaker, you’re accountable for the consequences,” Dreeben said. “There are plenty of ways to express yourself without doing it in a way that will lead people to think this guy is about to hurt somebody.”

The case before the court, Elonis v. United States, stems from a May 2010 domestic dispute between Anthony Douglas Elonis and his wife, who moved herself and their children out when Elonis’ aggressive Facebook postings escalated. Elonis was eventually sentenced to 44 months after being convicted under a federal law that makes it a crime to communicate “any threat to injure the person of another.”

Roberts, along with Justices Samuel Alito and Antonin Scalia, pressed Dreeben on whether Eminem should be prosecuted for his lyrics.

“This sounds like a roadmap for threatening a spouse and getting away with it,” Alito said. “You put it in rhyme and put some stuff about the Internet on it, and you say, ‘I’m an aspiring rap artist,’ and so then you’re free from prosecution.”

Lower courts have already sided with Dreeben, so the justices in Monday’s case were deciding whether prosecutors had adequately proved Elonis’ intent.