Hate-crime and hate-thought laws already and wreaking havoc in the EU and Australia. Forty-five states already have such laws, and the recent Don Imus scandal shows that societal pressure can be brought to bear on individuals and groups that violate societal norms.
It seems to me that "hate"-thought law are only useful when governments are attempting to control the behavior of masses of people in favor of special-interest groups which will result in resentment and "creative" ways of discriminating against the groups being protected as citizens find their freedom of speech and personal liberty being curtailed.
Policy Objections: (There are six.)
George Will at the Washington Post:
Political entrepreneurship involves devising benefits to excite or mollify niche constituencies. Hence HR 1592, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007, which has passed the House, trailing clouds of sanctimony -- lots of members announced their hatred of hate.Hate crime laws -- 45 states already have them; Congress does not mind being duplicative -- mandate enhanced punishments for crimes committed because of thoughts that government especially disapproves of. That is, crimes committed because of, not merely accompanied by, those thoughts. Mind-reading juries are required to distinguish causation from correlation.
The federal hate crime law enacted in 1968 enhanced punishments only for crimes against persons engaged in a federally protected activity, such as voting. HR 1592 would extend special federal protections to persons who are crime victims because of their race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or disability. But there are many other groups, so there will be other hate crime bills.Hate crimes are seven one-hundredths of 1 percent of all crimes, and 60.5 percent of them consist of vandalism (e.g., graffiti) or intimidation (e.g., verbal abuse). Local law enforcement organizations favor HR 1592, which promises money. Among the more than 200 organizations supposedly ardent for the bill are the American Music Therapy Association, the Aplastic Anemia Foundation of America, Catholics for a Free Choice, Easter Seals, Goodwill Industries, the International Dyslexia Association, Rock the Vote, and the Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics & Ritual. Who knew?
Hate crime laws are indignation gestures. Legislators federalize the criminal law in order to use it as a moral pork barrel to express theatrical empathy. They score points in the sentiment competition by conferring special government concern for more and more particular groups.
Laws hold us responsible for controlling our minds, which should control our conduct. But government increasingly wants to inventory and furnish our minds, removing socially undesirable desires. Law has always had the expressive function of stigmatizing particular kinds of conduct, but hate crime laws treat certain actions as especially wicked because the actors had odious (although not illegal) frames of mind.
This draws government steadily deeper into stigmatizing certain thoughts and attitudes, which incites more and more groups to clamor for inclusion in the ranks of the especially protected. And Timothy Lynch of the Cato Institute notes that prosecutors of supposed hate crimes must pry into defendants' lives -- books and magazines read, Internet sites visited, the nature of his or her friends -- to uncover evidence of unsavory thinking.(...)
Not all "shock jocks" are Caucasion. However, the excuse given for their potty mouths and racial stereotype is...get this, the effect of colonialism and racial self-hatred. NPR claims that there aren't any, even though some are included on this list.
Shouldn't they ALL be held to the same standard?
Eleanor,
Glad to see you back!
Local law enforcement organizations favor HR 1592, which promises money.
Well, doesn't that just figure!
People don't have sense enough to know that the federal government doesn't have any money other than what it takes via taxes.
Posted by: Always On Watch | May 12, 2007 at 07:43 PM
AOW - Thank you. Follow the money to discover one of the real reasons for the sell out. Hmmmmmmmmmmm
Posted by: epg | May 13, 2007 at 03:01 AM
AOW - Thank you. Follow the money to discover one of the real reasons for the sell out. Hmmmmmmmmmmm
Posted by: epg | May 13, 2007 at 04:38 AM