The religious-conservative case against federal hate crimes legislation

John Whitehead of the religious-conservative group The Rutherford Institute argues against federal hate crimes legislation currently pending in Congress.  Whitehead argues that:

• hate crime laws favor a particular class of individuals for protection and seek to punish certain prejudices;
• such laws have a chilling effect on free speech;
• hate crime laws create a new class of investigative techniques by government agents and the police; and
• hate crime laws are redundant, because there are "already a host of stiff penalties on the books for those who commit acts of unspeakable horror, whether the crimes are based on an individual's race, religion, national origin or sexual orientation."

-SS