02-12-2012, 10:55 AM
I think the crime is if they had intent to stir up violence. This is no different than shouting "FIRE" in a movie theater. It endangers the public. Hatred, no matter how repugnant, should not be a crime.
What if I hate Christians because two men who said they were Christians killed my wife, and one day I and a friend are sitting at a open cafe. I begin telling him somewhat loudly that I wish all Christians were dead, because they are just a bunch of murders. A cop overhears me, and I am arrested and sent to jail for five years, while my children are sent to an orphanage.
If the focus of the law is based on hatred towards something/someone then anyone like in the above scene could be charged with a hate crime, given the right circumstances. If the law is based on the idea of public safety being endangered for whatever reason then it would preclude someone just voicing hatred from being charged. Of course one would lose the satisfaction of calling it a "hate crime", which seems to me has gotten all to chic.
Dale
What if I hate Christians because two men who said they were Christians killed my wife, and one day I and a friend are sitting at a open cafe. I begin telling him somewhat loudly that I wish all Christians were dead, because they are just a bunch of murders. A cop overhears me, and I am arrested and sent to jail for five years, while my children are sent to an orphanage.
If the focus of the law is based on hatred towards something/someone then anyone like in the above scene could be charged with a hate crime, given the right circumstances. If the law is based on the idea of public safety being endangered for whatever reason then it would preclude someone just voicing hatred from being charged. Of course one would lose the satisfaction of calling it a "hate crime", which seems to me has gotten all to chic.
Dale
How long after picking up the brush, the first masterpiece?
The goal is not to obfuscate that which is clear, but make clear that which isn't.
The goal is not to obfuscate that which is clear, but make clear that which isn't.