Blogger makes case opposing hate crimes law

Granted, we at Hoosier Access typically don’t quote this blogger, but he finally makes a case against a cause which he typically fights ferociously in favor. I’m referring to Gary Welsh’s advocacy for hate crimes laws. While I don’t speak for the directors of HA, most I believe agree with me that “hate crime” laws are ripe for abuse and criminalize anything non-politically correct and stifle free speech. Is Orwell’s “Thought Police” not too far in the future with these “hate crimes” laws?

Gary Welsh wrote today about a Hispanic woman near Chicago that was a Obama superdelegate to the DNC. This Hispanic woman saw her neighbor children [who happen to be black] playing in a tree and she yelled at the kids to get out of the tree and quit acting like little monkeys. The use of the word “monkeys” drew fire from her neighbor and the Hispanic woman was cited and issued a fine for violating some ordinance, likely associated with a hate crimes law. As a result, B. Hussein Obama tossed her under the bus and removed her as a supporting superdelegate. Sounds like one more vote for Hillary.

Mr. Welsh wrote “The misapplication of [hate crimes] laws feeds into the hands of the opponents who claim hate crime laws infringe upon a person’s free speech rights. You could certainly make that argument in this case.”

(Read more after the leap)

No Gary, hate crimes laws DO infringe upon free speech rights. Imagine a prosecutor or other elected official using hate crimes laws to go after a newspaper reporter that reported negatively against him or her, or a television reporter, or even a blogger.

What hate crimes laws create is protected classes of citizens, free to wave around hate crimes laws any time advantage could be gained.

Suppose someone cuts you off in traffic on I-465. You display the finger, like most drivers on I-465. Next thing you know a state trooper is cuffing you because the person who cut you off in traffic just happened to be gay, was offended by the hand gesture, got your license plate number, and you’re being arrested for a hate crime and face hard time in jail, and heavy fines.

Extreme cases such as Matthew Shephard and The Jasper Texas Incident are isolated extreme examples of very bad people doing very bad acts. Compare that to the number of people who would be prosecuted under perceived violations of overly broad “hate crimes laws”. This is why such legislation is a bad idea.