Why am I uneasy with hate crimes laws? Partly, or perhaps entirely, because I have a presumption against new laws, particularly ones that empower prosecutors to engage in public preening. A new law doesn’t, or shouldn’t, “sound like a good idea” without a demonstration of need.
All I’m getting from my State Senator in support of a hate crimes Bill is fallacious reasons (e.g., “It’s 2018, for Pete’s sake!”) and junior-high-school-level conformism (“We’re one of only X states that doesn’t have a hate crimes law yet.”)
Yeah. So what? So. Freakin’. What.
Seriously.
All I want is a convincing demonstration of why, say, a hate battery is worse than battery committed out of sheer cussedness, or because committing a battery is required to become a made man in your gang? Is that too much to ask?
But I warn you: that Cummins Engine, Eli Lilly and the Indiana Chamber of Commerce want (or may want) a hate crimes law is of no moment whatever to my mind. Heck, the same people who argue for hate crimes laws will be the first to tell you that corporations should not be throwing their economic weight around for political purposes. “Citizens United! Bah! Humbug!”
Granted, hate is often sinful, even very sinful. (No, it’s not always sinful; Proverbs 6:16 gives us a list of what God hates) But I don’t see anyone arguing that pride, avarice, lust, envy, gluttony, anger or sloth should be aggravating circumstances.
I think there may be some convincing demonstration available, but I’ve not been sold yet.
While we’re at it, what’s the threshold frequency of bad behavior for criminalization? One incident?
I’m thinking of the guy who slipped into bed with his roommate’s girlfriend, who, shall we say, welcomed another round, albeit under a false impression about the identity of her playmate.
A cad. A real cad. I hope the roommate roughed him up. And if his behavior had fit the statutory definition of rape, I wouldn’t have lamented his conviction.
But it didn’t..
Should the rape definition be changed? Are we going to see an epidemic of impersonation rapes if we don’t change the law? How much time should the legislature spend on a Bill which may neither prevent nor punish a single occurrence for as long as the amended law is on the books?
Maybe you think I’ve picked some bad examples. Maybe you’re right. But could we have a little serious-mindedness before we load up the legal codes with more and more laws? They don’t all increase our well-being, let alone our freedom, y’know.
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Tipsy Teetotaler ن 