First Amendment
Anti-discrimination codes seem to overstep the first amendment guarantee of 'free speech'...words or speech that appear to denigrate specific groups have been banned in certain settings ( universities, labor unions, radio, etc.).
(During the 2004 presidential race, the Bush people would not allow protesters within a few hundred yards of the President- much farther away than was warranted by any security need. These protest areas were designated free speech "zones''....your Constitutional right to peacefully protest was limited to a small geographic area, away from the evening news cameras).
The anti-discrimination codes and anti hate speech and crime laws sound like a legal redundancy- one could argue that all acts of 'violence' involve a level of hate directed against the victim- so why single out a group to receive the apparent special legal protection?
This is the essential folly of anti-hate speech or crime legislation: the new laws merely draw undue attention to the group in question, as they are already protected under other provisions within the Constitution. Hate speech laws can have a chilling effect on debate, limiting free speech, and seem to be legislating 'kindness,' something you should have learned at home as a child. The new laws also are attempts to deny basic realities and rewrite history.
I hate several of my neighbors. Outlaw THAT!
(During the 2004 presidential race, the Bush people would not allow protesters within a few hundred yards of the President- much farther away than was warranted by any security need. These protest areas were designated free speech "zones''....your Constitutional right to peacefully protest was limited to a small geographic area, away from the evening news cameras).
The anti-discrimination codes and anti hate speech and crime laws sound like a legal redundancy- one could argue that all acts of 'violence' involve a level of hate directed against the victim- so why single out a group to receive the apparent special legal protection?
This is the essential folly of anti-hate speech or crime legislation: the new laws merely draw undue attention to the group in question, as they are already protected under other provisions within the Constitution. Hate speech laws can have a chilling effect on debate, limiting free speech, and seem to be legislating 'kindness,' something you should have learned at home as a child. The new laws also are attempts to deny basic realities and rewrite history.
I hate several of my neighbors. Outlaw THAT!
posted by Zero at 10:31 AM
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