How many of you would support laws that prevent inciting hatred and discrimination on racial or religious grounds?
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008 at 2:12 pm and is filed under Uncategorized.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
I don’t know much about the law, but are we currently allowed to incite hatred on anyone under any circumstance? Wouldn’t that be menacing?? I mean, I would like to incite hatred on Pittsburgh Steeler fans if I’m allowed.
Hatred no, discrimination possibly if you could demonstrate actual harm. However, I suspect you can already sue someone for inciting discrimination that creates actual harm, and I’d only want a fine and a cease-and-desist anyway, so I don’t know that any further legislation is needed- and since it would probably just be abused anyway, we may as well skip it. As long as civil courts provide a reasnoable means of regress.
Well, there’s nothing fine about evil people spewing hate. And it’s not fine when people express themselves, or introduce information, only to be met with bigotry, fear, and anger. It’s something that should be worked against at every opportunity. But it’s delicate, subjective work, the kind of work that governments have no interest in getting right, and every interest in getting terribly, terribly wrong.
June 3rd, 2008 at 2:54 pm
I don’t know much about the law, but are we currently allowed to incite hatred on anyone under any circumstance? Wouldn’t that be menacing?? I mean, I would like to incite hatred on Pittsburgh Steeler fans if I’m allowed.
June 3rd, 2008 at 11:03 pm
You can incite all the hatred you want in America. The laws are, typically, for ‘inciting violence’ usally called ‘fightin’ words’.
And yeah, I’m not a fan of any government-based attempt to make people be nice to each other.
June 4th, 2008 at 2:27 am
preventing the encitement of hatred. So, we’re trying to stop violence. Since hatred is not illegal yet, the encitement of hatred should be fine.
June 4th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Hatred no, discrimination possibly if you could demonstrate actual harm. However, I suspect you can already sue someone for inciting discrimination that creates actual harm, and I’d only want a fine and a cease-and-desist anyway, so I don’t know that any further legislation is needed- and since it would probably just be abused anyway, we may as well skip it. As long as civil courts provide a reasnoable means of regress.
June 4th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
As long as inciting hatred does not directly lead to violence or other kinds of hurtful/illegal acts, I guess it’s fine.
June 5th, 2008 at 2:36 am
Well, there’s nothing fine about evil people spewing hate. And it’s not fine when people express themselves, or introduce information, only to be met with bigotry, fear, and anger. It’s something that should be worked against at every opportunity. But it’s delicate, subjective work, the kind of work that governments have no interest in getting right, and every interest in getting terribly, terribly wrong.