Issues & Views:Sneaking in another "hate crimes" law

June 14, 2004

An unpopular truth

Sneaking in another "hate crimes" law

Steve Lilienthal of the Free Congress Foundation, in "The Death of Equal Justice Under Law," warns of a new piece of "stealth" legislation that is being placed as an amendment into the Defense Appropriations bill. This is another "hate crimes" law introduced by that duo team of Senator Orrin Hatch and Senator Ted Kennedy.

The legislation, if enacted, could lead to pressure by lobbies of particular "protected" groups to declare as "hate speech" any open dissent that they deem detrimental to their respective causes. Lilienthal describes a similar law in Canada and an earlier one proposed by Kennedy:

Recently the Canadian Parliament passed Law C-250. It establishes "hate speech" against homosexuals to be a crime. There is a religious exemption, but it is up to the individual to establish why he should not be persecuted for voicing the tenets of his faith. Even though the Hatch-Kennedy Hate Crimes Amendment, if enacted, will not immediately establish such speech as a crime, the incentive will be there for the hate crimes lobby -- particularly the homosexual community -- to push for even more laws on the books.

One might add to Lilienthal's warning about one lobby group that there are other "communities" out there whose members will enthusiastically push for those additional laws to restrict free speech. He continues:

A disturbing element of Hate Crimes bill S. 966, proposed by Senator Kennedy last summer, is that it permits the Federal Government to usurp power from the state and local law enforcement, if "the verdict or sentence obtained pursuant to State charges left demonstratively unvindicated the Federal interest in eradicating bias-motivated violence."
Furthermore, the fact is that police departments under the Kennedy legislation would be provided with money when they prosecute hate crimes, a real incentive for the locals to classify as many crimes as possible as hate crimes. The legislation (S. 966) says: "The Attorney General may award grants to assist State, local, and Indian law enforcement officials with the extraordinary expenses associated with the investigation and prosecution of hate crimes." Thus, a carrot is being dangled in front of state and local police departments to classify the most incidental thoughts as hate crimes in order to obtain extra funding courtesy of Washington.
Violence initiated against anyone based on race, sexual preference, or gender is a crime and deserves vigorous prosecution. It gets it. However, the creation of special categories of protected people diminishes the concept of equal justice under law by creating special categories of protected people.
Libertarians who worry about the excessive power of the Federal Government also have good reason to worry about passage of the Hatch-Kennedy Hate Crimes Amendment. The government may soon decide which speech is or is not permissible. Moreover, this amendment upends the rights of states to prosecute crime the way they -- not some Washington pressure lobby -- best see fit.
Put it in the trash bin this year and the smell won't go away. It will be back next year. The lobby that is pushing this will not be satisfied until victory is achieved. Eternal vigilance is needed.