“it’s perfectly legal to yell “fire” in a crowded theatre...”
Legal, yes. But if there is not a fire, and people are harmed as a result of what you yelled, then you are liable and probably will lose a lot of money when those lawsuits hit. And you won’t be able to claim any 1st amendment protections in those lawsuits either. So by that measure it is indeed “unprotected speech”.
In civil court only?
Bingo
Post number 9
“Legal, yes.”
No, if it was done deliberately to cause a panic, and people get injured, you can easily be charged with disorderly conduct.
Another example, think you can call in a bomb threat and say it was free speech? You are in the hook for a lot more than money.
The whole thing is an academic “gotcha”. This is what happens when liberal elitists gather to discuss conservative or constructionist constitutional views.