Last year I sharply criticized the idea of adding attacks on police to the list of offenses deemed hate crimes, an idea being floated in Minnesota and elsewhere. Now the idea is going national: “Recently, Representative Ken Buck [R-Colo.] introduced the Blue Lives Matter Act of 2016, which would amend the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 to make any attack on a police officer a federal hate crime.” In addition to all the earlier reasons why it’s a terrible idea, this adds problems of federal overreach, including federal criminal law intrusion into categories of offense previously handled at the state level [Alison Somin, Federalist Society blog; Ilya Somin]
5 Comments
*sigh* Maybe we should make littering and loud music Federal hate crimes, too.
/It’s called “sarcasm”. Sometimes, that’s all you have left when reality gets so screwed up.
This seems to be the logical end game with “hate” crimes. Every minority with a little political clout gets their special “hate” crime carve out. I don’t see why cops should be left out.
” I don’t see why cops should be left out.”
Because cops have guns and can use them with impunity?
A lot of Ferguson protestors (as well as Mike Brown) could be charged with a Federal Hate Crime! I’m sure Attorney General Lynch will get right on it.
Make everything a hate crime. That way we retain equality under the law. Of course, punishment will be harsher but it would make for a great deterrent.