…because it’s too broad, not because it’s stupid, which should be the ruling. According to the Associated Press:
A hate crimes law barely passed the Legislature in 2000 after bitter arguments about whether some crimes are worse than others when bigotry is in the heart of the accused. It passed only after protections for gay people were removed and the law rewritten to vaguely refer to “bias or prejudice.” Of the 48 states with hate-crimes laws, Georgia’s was the only not to specify who would be protected.Pisciotta and Botts [whites who beat up two blacks] appealed the hate crimes law to the state’s highest court in April. Their lawyers argued that the statute should be struck down because almost any crime involving prejudice falls under its scope….
In their ruling, justices said the hate crimes law could be applied to every possible prejudice, “no matter how obscure, whimsical or unrelated to the victim.” It cited a rabid sports fan picking on a person wearing a competing team’s cap or a campaign worker convicted of trespassing for defacing a political opponent’s yard signs.
I’m going to demonstrate the silliness of these laws. Let’s suppose I’m bashing you over the head because you cut me off in traffic. There’s a law against that. Now let’s suppose I’m doing the same thing because you’re white, and I hate whites. Does the crime change? Why should I get two extra years in jail because I hate whites? If I’m beating you just because you’re white, does it hurt worse than if I’m beating you just because you cut me off in traffic? What if I’m bashing you over the head because you’re white and because you cut me off in traffic?
Let’s say I, a black person, set you on fire because you’re black and I hate black people, even though I’m black. In addition to other criminal laws broken, is it also a hate crime?
Don’t you see how ridiculous it gets? You cannot penalize what I think. It’s insane! There are already laws on the books for the hypothetical crimes I committed. Only a bored, technologically advanced society would come up with something this stupid. Hate crime laws are just more government power and intrusion. I feel stupid even writing “hate crime laws.” That’s how stupid they are. It’s just an attempt to codify political correctness, something I already loathe.
So we already know blacks and homosexuals are among the “protected classes” the laws are designed for. Skin color and sexual preferences. That’s all liberals care about. But let’s say you’re a man and you hate women. Is wife-beating a hate crime? Is raping a woman a hate crime? What about raping a black woman? Is it a hate crime only if you’re doing it because she’s black? Is the crime qualitatively worse because you hate blacks, women or both?
Even if hate crime laws are content-neutral (no specific group named), they’re redundant. For every criminal act you can think of, there’s a law against it. What other reason besides criminalizing thoughts do these laws serve?
High comedy. There is no end to liberal madness.
