The "hate" element was justified because it allegedly made the crime more heinous and it affected only the punishment not the element of the crime. But we are now watching the metamorphosis of hate crime into hate speech. In other words what the left now regards as "hateful" will soon become a crime rather than a constitutionally protected utterance and the crime will exist without an ancillary act. The speech alone will be enough to convict.
This is the inevitable consequence of trifling with the First Amendment. We are on the march toward tyranny.
