Yet there has been no outcry from conservatives against this dangerously broad use of penalty enhancements. As with their new-found passion for free speech, the right's support for equal protection in sentencing seems partisan at best.
Which is not to say that hate speech is harmless. Far from it. Recently Eric Rudolph, who exploded a nail-packed bomb outside the New Woman All Women Health Care Center in Birmingham, Alabama, made the news on this very subject. Rudolph made a deal to avoid the death penalty and is now using his constitutionally-protected free speech to taunt one of his victims, nurse Emily Lyons, from his prison cell. (Be forewarned, this link contains extremely disturbing photos showing what Emily, a mother of two, has suffered from Rudolph's vicious attack, including the loss of one eye.)
On a website set up by an Army of God admirer, Rudolph
An equal opportunity hater, Rudolph also bombed a gay bar.
Jeff Lyons, Emily's husband, worries that Rudolph, who is considered a "Hero of God" among anti-abortion fanatics, might incite further violence from his jail cell. It is certainly possible. And yet there's no way to constrain Eric Rudolph's free speech rights without compromising free speech for everyone.
I believe it would be both wrong and futile to try to solve the problem of rising hate by curtailing speech. But it would also be wrong-and dangerous-not to address the problem at all. Adding time to the sentences of criminals convicted of violently assaulting strangers simply because they are gay, or black, or work in an abortion clinic, is an eminently reasonable way to discourage further violence against vulnerable minorities while at the same time protecting free speech rights.
In other words, I support this extension of hate crime coverage precisely because of the value I put on the First Amendment. Penalty enhancements allow us, as a society, to take a stand against radical intolerance at the point where vicious words escalate into beatings, cross-burnings, and bombings.
In the words of Dr. King, "It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can stop him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important."
Which is not to say that hate speech is harmless. Far from it. Recently Eric Rudolph, who exploded a nail-packed bomb outside the New Woman All Women Health Care Center in Birmingham, Alabama, made the news on this very subject. Rudolph made a deal to avoid the death penalty and is now using his constitutionally-protected free speech to taunt one of his victims, nurse Emily Lyons, from his prison cell. (Be forewarned, this link contains extremely disturbing photos showing what Emily, a mother of two, has suffered from Rudolph's vicious attack, including the loss of one eye.)
On a website set up by an Army of God admirer, Rudolph
recalls how Emily Lyons, in court, described the pain of her injuries and made an obscene gesture at Rudolph as she showed off a finger mangled by the blast. Rudolph writes: "It was a great speech and one that the denizens of freedom should be proud to enshrine in a museum somewhere. Perhaps they could put it next to MLK's 'I Have a Dream.' They could call it 'I Have a Middle Finger.'"
Jeff Lyons, Emily's husband, worries that Rudolph, who is considered a "Hero of God" among anti-abortion fanatics, might incite further violence from his jail cell. It is certainly possible. And yet there's no way to constrain Eric Rudolph's free speech rights without compromising free speech for everyone.
I believe it would be both wrong and futile to try to solve the problem of rising hate by curtailing speech. But it would also be wrong-and dangerous-not to address the problem at all. Adding time to the sentences of criminals convicted of violently assaulting strangers simply because they are gay, or black, or work in an abortion clinic, is an eminently reasonable way to discourage further violence against vulnerable minorities while at the same time protecting free speech rights.
In other words, I support this extension of hate crime coverage precisely because of the value I put on the First Amendment. Penalty enhancements allow us, as a society, to take a stand against radical intolerance at the point where vicious words escalate into beatings, cross-burnings, and bombings.
In the words of Dr. King, "It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can stop him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important."
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