Re: More on hate crime legislation

[Robert Hoffmann <escape@alt-escape.com>]

At 10:38 AM 10/21/98 +0000, you wrote:
>It seems to me that Will makes a great point for carefully crafted 
>legislation.  He isn't saying there should be none at all, because 
>the purveyor of "Beat WSU" cannot be prosecuted under the same law as 
>one who writes "Burn Jews" on the bridge with any reasonable 
>expectation that the latter criminals will be appropriately punished 
>assuming they are even prosecuted under current laws--the prosecutor 
>has to choose how s/he spends OUR resources, and if the penalty is 
>relatively meaningless to the "odiousness"/outrageous nature of the 
>crime, charges may never be filed.
>
>MC

Actually, given what I know about George Will, he probably is saying that
there should be no hate crime legislation.  He also (according to his prior
statements) doesn't believe in the secret ballot or one person, one vote.
As of a few years ago, he stated that guaranteeing people access to the
ballot regardless of their color was a mistake.

I must state that George Will is, among columnists, one of the few great
practitioners of the English language.  He is a very skilled, intelligent
man.  He also tends to espouse opinions that seem to recall the attitudes
of rulers at a time when nations were lead by people wearing crowns on
their heads.  If George Will said it, I immediately view "it" with
considerable caution.


Robert Hoffmann                      115 N. Jackson St., Suite D
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