Other actual laws include making it unlawful for elephants to drink beer in Natchez, Mississippi. (Apparently it was viewed as necessary legislation following the drunken display by those pickled pachyderms in "Dumbo.")

Painting horses is illegal in Vermont.

Fishing from the back of any animal is strictly forbidden in Idaho.

In Kentucky, burglaries can only be committed at night.

Donkeys are not allowed to sleep in bathtubs in Brooklyn—nor are humans in Detroit. And you'll spend time in the cooler if you're caught sleeping in a refrigerator in Pittsburgh.

And in New Jersey, where politicians obviously have way too much time on their hands, it's illegal to slurp soup, make dogs cry, raise chickens in bottles, or allow dogs to bark, chickens to crow and ducks to quack between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Some laws are simply outdated or outrageous. But some are down right dangerous.

The recent killing spree by self-confessed white supremacist, Benjamin Smith, has prompted the State of Indiana to consider enacting "hate crime" legislation. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe first-degree murder is already considered a crime in all fifty states and warrants the death penalty in the Hoosier state. It seems to me that having one's body pumped full of lethal drugs is punishment enough! (Will being convicted of a hate crime double the dosage?!)

But hate crime legislation has little to do with law and justice. It's an attempt by political action groups to squelch the First Amendment rights of anyone who dares oppose that particular group's beliefs.

Our country was built on the premise that every citizen with a soap box—or a computer—has an inalienable right to express his or her opinions freely. And so, conspiracy theorists, right- and left-wing radicals, racists of all colors, aliens, reincarnated cave men, multi-level marketers of snake oil and even humor columnists are allowed to share their view in the media, Internet sites and local watering holes. And equally important [cue the "Star Spangled Banner"] Americans have the right to accept or to peacefully challenge those opinions.

Hate laws attempt to criminalize thought! Yes, punish to the full extent of law white supremacists—or any other group of sociopaths—who kill their alleged "enemies." But don't punish them for their motives—no matter how much you and I may disagree with them. (And I DO disagree with them!)

Some day our ideas and beliefs may be targeted and then criminalized by lawmakers who have buckled under the pressure of some powerful political action group.

Think about it. Speak out about it.

But don't carry a ukulele on the street in Salt Lake City, Utah!

Copyright © 1998 James N. Watkins

Comments

Thanks for the timely dissection of hate crime laws. I believe this kind of law plays into the deluded psyche of the people who commit the kind of crimes being targetted. The killers of Matthew Sheppard thought they were doing something other than cold blooded murder, because Sheppard was believed to have homosexual inclinations. They were not doing anything special. The man who continues to choose to think of himself as white, who arrogates to himself that it is somehow specially good to rape, torture and kill people with a higher epidermal melanin concentration also thinks he is doing something other than rape, mayhem, aggravated assault and murder. He is not. The message such perpetrators should get in court is, we don't care what your motive was, you are a common criminal, and will be treated like every other rapist, murder, batterer, etc. Nothing special about you. If its murder, its murder. If its rape, its rape. If it is intimidation (by threats or implication of actual violence or other criminal act) then it is intimidation. If it is idle speech of an offensive nature, it is speech. jsiarlys@juno.com (May 2009)

If you have not already seen this, it might be of interest to you. Good info and a petition. FightHateCrimes.com. Very scary stuff...things that the end times will be made of....most sadly, our rights have to go downhill at some point. Blessings, Susan (May 2009)



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