Federal Judge Throws Out Neo-Nazi Bill White's Conviction

A federal judge ruled today that a jury was wrong when it convicted neo-Nazi Bill White for using his website to promote violence. CBS Chicago is reporting that U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman has ruled White was within his rights when he published information about a juror on his website in 2008.

In January, White was convicted of one count of solicitation for publishing the personal information of the jury foreman in the trial that convicted another neo-Nazi, Matthew Hale, of soliciting the murder of a federal judge. White, who once led the neo-Nazi group American National Socialist Workers Party, has been in prison nearly continuously since 2008.

CBS Chicago reports that Judge Adelman’s decision finds that “the government failed to present sufficient evidence” that White’s website posts intended to solicit harm to the juror. “I further find the posts protected by the First Amendment,” Adelman concluded.

This ruling clears the way for White to leave his Chicago prison.