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Now for Some Good News

HoustonChronicle: Top state court throws out Georgia hate crime law

ATLANTA -- The Georgia Supreme Court unanimously threw out the state's hate crimes law today, calling it over-broad and "unconstitutionally vague."

The four-year-old law calls for stiffer criminal penalties for crimes in which a victim was chosen because of "any bias or prejudice."

[...]

Originally, the legislation defined a hate crime as one motivated specifically by the victim's race, religion, gender, national origin or sexual orientation.

That language was removed by the Legislature and replaced with a section defining a hate crime as one in which the victim or his property was targeted because of bias or prejudice.

I wish that I could say that 'having no sensible relationship to reality' is what the Court means by "unconstitutionally vague," but unfortunately it would appear that the absurdity of hate crime legislation has not come to the realization of the high court of this delightful state of Georgia.

Let's listen to a story I will make up right now:

Once upon a time David Duke is walking in a dark alley in Atlanta, Georgia when he lays upon some hoodlums. In the darkness, he cannot see them but he starts shouting the N-Word as he guns them down. They turn out to be white.

Poor David Duke. He's going to jail for a hate crime. Everyone knows he was in the KKK. He thought he was attacking black folks, so it's a hate crime.

But what if they turn out to be black? Doesn't matter. The N-Word and Davey's KKK history make it clear: a hate crime happened here.

Let's listen to another story:

Once upon a time Mother Theresa is walking in a dark alley in Atlanta, Georgia when she lays upon some hoodlums. In the darkness, she cannot see them but she starts shouting the N-Word as she guns them down. They turn out to be white.

Oh, Mother Theresa. You silly goose! That's no hate crime. You're just a bad guy! Shame on you. tsk. tsk. You're going to jail!

What if they're black?

Everyone knows Mother Theresa is no bigot. Look at how many black people she knows! Oh, Mother Theresa. You silly goose! That's no hate crime. You're just a bad guy! Shame on you. tsk. tsk. You're going to jail!

What's the difference?

You have two people of different opinions on the matter of race but commit the same action. The reason I know that Mother Theresa would not be convicted is due to her street cred as a helpful person and not a bigot. The reason I know David Duke would be locked up and the key thrown away is because of his reputation.

This is the problem with ALL hate-crime legislation. They create a class of thought-crimes.

I think a better system is to simply hold people strictly accountable for the actual, objectively definable and falsifiable crimes they commit. Heaven forbid we treat the burden of evidence with any sort of scientific rigor!