Posted on 05/04/2007 11:12:00 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Fresh off a vote last week urging our abrupt surrender in Iraq, and just hours removed from coming up 62 votes short in an attempt to override the president's veto, Democrats will use the House floor this afternoon to slide through legislation conceived of, written by, and moved in consultation with a key segment of their special interest constituency.
The bill, harmlessly coined "the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act" by House Democrats, would create a nebulous new class of criminals based not on the things they do, but on the basis of what they may or may not have been thinking while they committed the crime. Even worse, the legislation takes the unprecedented step of declaring some victims of heinous crimes not as worthy of justice as others, simply because they don't happen to fall into a special category of favored status.
But as we've seen in cases from San Francisco to Sweden, the actual application of "thought crime" laws is hardly restricted to criminals. Take for example the 2004 arrest of 11 people in Philadelphia simply for holding signs and reading passages out of the Bible during a gay pride festival downtown.
Though by all indications their protests were conducted peaceably, and with proper restraint, these men and women were forcibly detained, unceremoniously dragged down to the police station, and eventually charged with a total of three separate felonies and five misdemeanors
What, exactly, was the nature of their crimes? Well, according to the police, their charges included "possession of instruments of crime" (a bullhorn), "ethnic" intimidation (reciting a Biblical passage), and "inciting a riot" (again, reading verses from the Bible). All told, the protesters faced more than $90,000 in fines and court costs, and the very real prospect of facing as many as 47 years in prison.
The most charitable members of the Democratic caucus today will suggest those opposed to thought crime legislation are either misguided or confused; the most liberal will stand up and make blanket declarations insisting that we're all racists, bigots, or worse.
Unfortunately, it will be House Democrats advancing a bill that restricts basic religious freedoms and criminalizes innocent speech. And it will be House Democrats who will be imposing legislation that, at its core, enforces unequal justice for victims of our most serious crimes.
That's a fact of which House Republicans will be reminding Democrats early and often on the floor this afternoon. I'd urge Townhall readers to do the same.
Our elected officials don’t attend to the things that they are required to (illegal immigration) and instead spend their time on nonsensical ill-advised “feel good” legislation.
What a nightmare.
btt
There is nothing about this that feels good...........
There have been federal hate crime laws on the books for 40 years now. If this kind of law is so bad then why didn’t Blunt or the GOP do anything about it when they ran the show?
Next, they’ll complain that there are too many people in jail.
They just talked a good game but actually did nothing at all.
It was pathetically disgusting how they allowed the far Left wingnuts to go unchallenged.
Current laws dont pertain to reading the bible out loud.
The dems are like power hungry fools trying to push their agenda. They should have gone light until after the 2008 election. I hope we can knock them back out of power if they keep this up.
It scares me that this bill may prohibit our free speech and religion. Technically, all crimes are motivated by hate. By crimes, I mean physical or violent verbal harrasment, not someone merely being offended. Unless somehow it is blantantly obvious, the only way they can attempt to determine the motivation of a crime is to makes guesses of the thoughts, pry into the thoughts, and attempt to regulate the thoughts of others.
Owning a gun would be a crime, and any attempt to stop gun control (Using speech protected under the first amendment) would be a “Crime against Children and minorities” under the Dim plan. And, yes, they would violate the 4th and 5th amendment to take the guns away.
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007704250310
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1824653/posts?page=170
Special squads of Police should disarm Americans, says Democrats.
They also want a TOTAL ban on firearms. See post 11.
Hate crimes legislation (got to protect “Minorities” and Government officials from criticism), Gun Control Legislation (total ban on firearms,) increasing taxes and redistributing wealth, disarming the military and most police forces (except the ones that answer to the rats directly), federalizing all state police forces, ect. All goals of the far left, and what they are trying to do today.
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