Why hate speech laws are a bad thing

[Loren Pechtel]

They can define it to be whatever they want.

 

[laughing dog]

I was under the impression there are no hate speech laws in the US.

 

[WAB]

Free speech is history.

 

[GenesisNemesis]

Better not say you don't like someone in power, that's hate speech now.

 

[Shadowy Man]

I was under the impression there are no hate speech laws in the US.

Not explicitly, but it could be couched in the context of harassment or abuse.

 

[crazyfingers]

I would prefer if there was a way to prosecute public figures for lying. But there isn't.

Bondi is a massive liar but there is nothing that can be cone about it but to use free speech and then she threatens you for pointing out the lying. Fascism is sweet by her.

 

[bilby]

They can define it to be whatever they want.

Of course they can. It's a free country.

 

[steve_bank]

I knew a black guy who grew up in Jin Crow Louisiana.

He was not poor, his family had a farm.

I always thought I had an understanding of racism, but then I listened to his stories about what it was like in his daily life. Routine hate speech.

With radio and cheap audio records there was an industry swelling hate speech against minorities. And anti govt rhetoric. Well before the Internet.

Public figures were openly racist in print media. A pro sports coach said his team would never have 'niggers'. There was no backlash to any of it.

In the 70s and 80s I heard it openly in the work environment. Laws and lawsuits about hostile work environments and civil rights laws put a stop to it.

The problem is where the bounds are and who sets them. Equal enforcement.

 

[Politesse]

What "law" is she referring to? She's describing vigilantism, not law.

They can define it to be whatever they want.

 

[NotreDame15]

They can define it to be whatever they want.

In addition, hate speech is protected under the Free Speech Clause. See R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul (1992)

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

They can define it to be whatever they want.

Oh come on. That is an example of abusive leadership, not why hate speech laws are bad. This Government is looking to end the left-wing. Naming ANTIFA a terror group allows them to label anyone a terrorist as there is no ANTIFA organization to prove you aren't a member of.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

They can define it to be whatever they want.

In addition, hate speech is protected under the Free Speech Clause. See R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul (1992)

I'm sorry... are you under the impression that precedence matters anymore?

 

[NotreDame15]

I was under the impression there are no hate speech laws in the US.

Not explicitly, but it could be couched in the context of harassment or abuse.

Yes, however, there must exist a communicative effect, as opposed to content of the speech, for those statutes to adhere to the Free Speech Clause.

For example, burning a cross isn’t necessarily illegal speech. Burning a cross in a yard isn’t alone harassment or “abuse” (unsure what “abuse” references) or “intimidation.” A burning cross capable and or will be seen by people or the public isn’t necessarily “harassment” or “intimidation” or “abuse.”

““True threats” encompass those statements where the speaker means to communicate a serious expression of an intent to commit an act of unlawful violence to a particular individual or group of individuals. See Wattsv. United States, supra, at 708 (“political hyberbole” is not a true threat); R. A. V. v. City of St. Paul, 505 U.S., at 388. The speaker need not actually intend to carry out the threat. Rather, a prohibition on true threats “protect individuals from the fear of violence” and “from the disruption that fear engenders,” in addition to protecting people “from the possibility that the threatened violence will occur.” Virginia v Black, (U.S., 1993) https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/01-1107.ZO.html

 

[scombrid]

I was under the impression there are no hate speech laws in the US.

GOP don’t need no stinking laws.

 

[crazyfingers]

They can define it to be whatever they want.

Why isn't she going after Trump for all of the despicable and hateful things he's said about immigrants, liberals, anyone who disagrees with him. Trump is the king of hate speech.

But he's a MAGAturd so he gets a free pass to day irresponsible, false, hateful stuff about innocent people.

 

[Elixir]