SAM HANANEL, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s a First Amendment test for the Supreme Court in a case being heard Monday.

At issue are the free-speech rights of people who use violent or threatening language on Facebook and other social media.

A Pennsylvania man was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for posting graphically violent rap lyrics on Facebook about killing his estranged wife, shooting up a kindergarten class and attacking an FBI agent.

The man says he was just venting his anger over a broken marriage and that he never meant to threaten anyone.

But a jury convicted him of violating a federal law that makes it a crime to threaten another person. A federal appeals court rejected his claim that his comments were protected by the First Amendment.