Anyway, the one redeeming feature of federal hate crime laws, IMHO, is that it allows such incidents to be tracked. Thus, agencies may be able to spot patterns of attacks on certain groups across jurisdictions. In other words, I don’t care much about the penalty enhancer aspect of hate crimes laws, but I do think having a subcategory for crimes directed at certain people can aid in the investigative effort.

Which part do you find objectionable? Do you think the guy should get 10 years for being a jerk?

Do you think hating gay people should be a crime?

Give me a break…the first article is crap. His quotes around “bias intimidation” which is the alleged crime compared to the headline using “Expressing Unapproved Views” is Fox journalism 101. Save that bullshit for someone who can’t see through it.

Hmmm….I’m thinking…what will be the new form of torture for the kiddies?

Thats his mistake. He would be much more likely to get a settlement than ever get an apology.

But even if we discount Ravi’s mitigating explanations, he is guilty, at worst, of being an immature jerk

Actually, when Ravi’s mitigating explanations – which contradict the evidence – are discounted, he’s guilty of invasion of privacy and destruction of evidence, even considering his failure to do either properly.

No, it doesn’t look like he’s guilty of a hate crime (whether or not that’s a justifiable law), but the “boys will be boys” is bullshit. The base charges are justified – even if they aren’t always pursued – and it’s not just the hate crime law / “bias enhancer” that’s causing Ravi’s problems.

CSP, I’ve heard that being short puts a person at risk from airbags, but what difference does weight make?

Had to reach reaaaaalllll far up your ass to pull these out, huh? I still think the vice president should find better things to do than post random fallacies on libertarian blogs.

1.) Stewart deserves no defense whatsoever. Immediate summary execution is most appropriate.
2.) People who come up with “crazy charities should have to pay [for a permit]”

I want to believe people are more careful than this. Every time I read these news article comments I want to find a nice quiet place in the backcountry to live the rest of my days without ever interacting with people again.

Robinhood and his merry band they were not.

A man’s home is his castle unless the police say it is not.

“In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense”

Wow, you need a government permit in order to exercise your sixth amendment rights to assistance of counsel? I’m sure that has nothing to do with the trend of needing permits for first, second, fourth, and fifth amendment rights. They stop being “rights” when the default is that you need government permission to exercise them.

This is a purely ideological expression. Now nothing is wrong with that, per se (there is no getting away from ideology), but it happens to be an unreflective and thoughtless ideological expression, a strong hint that the underlying ideology is at least, well, unreflective and thoughtless, and possibly dishonest.

(Yes, libertoids sometimes do this as well, when appealing to “reason” etc.)

Unless you’re a lawyer working for the government…

As the husband of a short, overweight woman, who’s life is threatened by the Air Bag mandated by such safety laws, I take a dim view of all government buttinskiism on the subject. This particular law may make some sort of sense, but my first instinct is to assume it is so much tripe, and the regulatory system has not proved me wrong often enough to change my approach.

After the police and prosecutors climb the mountain of drug war dead bodies, they’ll plant a flag pole in the asshole of the last one they killed in a No-Knock Late Night Drug Raid, too
.