Domestic terrorism

[pat]

I am having a discussion elsewhere with someone over hate crimes legislation. The individual I am debating with argues that hate crimes statutes ends up discriminating against people based on what they think and Hate is hateful and horrible, but in a free society, we can't legislate against it, and we shouldn't try.

This ignores the social fabric which hate crimes destroy. In some sense, a hate crime is a crime against a community -- a crime of terrorism. It says,"quit your job, baby-killer" to the colleagues of Bernard Slepian; it says "keep in the closet, fag" to the friends of Matthew Shepard; it says "keep your place, nigger" to the black men of Mississippi who look at Emmett Till's bloated body or hear about his lynching. In all cases the coda is "...or this is going to happen to you."

Comments

[klwalton.livejournal.com]

But it isn't penalizing thought. It's penalizing actions based on thought. If we didn't do that already, there would be no degrees of murdered based on premeditation or no premeditation. There would be no consideration of "malice aforethought". The degree to which we punish crimes have very much to do with what can be proved as far as what the perpetrator is thinking prior to or during the crime.

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

You're right. I should have said that to him.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

in a free society

That's taking an absolutist view of what free society means, with an emphasis on the primacy of the individual that only Vikings recognized in their law codes. Of course Vikings had their own way of dealing with what we call hate crimes...

The United States was not established as that kind of free society. One has only to read James Madison to understand this.

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

that only Vikings recognized in their law codes

So Vikings were libertarians? *grin*

[wcg.livejournal.com]

About as close as anyone has ever come to it in a real, working society.

At that, Vikings were basically outcasts. Composed mostly of younger sons who wouldn't inherit, they left home and went in Viking to find new land for themselves.

While comparable to most modern-day Libertarians in terms of social skills, I doubt most of the Libertarians I've met would last long as Vikings.