The Problem with Hate Crime

The Problem with Hate Crime Legislation - When justice is equal - when we are all equal before the law - then there is no real reason to abuse the law. It's when inequalities are introduced into the mix that the problems arise. That's true if some are less equal - it was not only very hard for a black man to get a fair shake in court (and in some cases may still be), but it was eminently possible for the more equal class to use the law to abuse those less equal.

But today's news from Saint Cloud - a man has been caught falsely reporting a bias crime - shows that the opposite is true; when you create a more powerful class, abuse is also endemic.

And when laws make some people more equal than others - whether they be hate crime laws or domestic abuse laws that recognize only violence against women and ignore violence against men (which have led to an epidemic of false abuse charges against men, designed to win leverage in child custody trials) - it goes far beyond the academic legalistic objections that many have to hate crime laws. In short - not only do such laws erode the concept of equality before the law, they provide a direct, well-lighted four lane freeway to assist one in going down that road.

Time to rethink all such laws.