Posted on 03/10/2024 6:58:45 PM PDT by jacknhoo
Residents of the Evergreen State will soon be able to report their neighbors for expressing “bias.”
The governor of Washington is poised to sign a bill that ends free speech in certain counties – and the rest of the state probably sometime thereafter. Recently passed by the Washington state legislature, this measure creates a “bias incident hotline” to the State Attorney General’s Office. You read that right: American citizens in the northwestern state will soon be able to turn in their friends, neighbors, family members, or even strangers for not only physical “hate crimes” but also expressions of “bias.” Substitute Senate Bill 5427 is now on the governor’s desk. Its supposed purpose is “supporting people who have been targeted or affected by hate crimes and bias incidents.” To that end, it establishes “a reporting hotline” and sets up a mechanism for “tracking hate crimes and bias incidents” that will be overseen by the Washington state attorney general’s office.
Criminalizing Free Speech?
To be clear, this isn’t merely about going after people who have allegedly committed physical “hate crimes.” It also targets reported instances of “a person’s hostile expression of animus toward another person, relating to the other person’s actual or perceived characteristics…” Literally, the hotline gives people a way of informing on others supposedly guilty of thought crimes – or, perhaps, speech crimes.
The bill, as passed, does make it clear that these “bias incidents” do not include “expressions of opposition or support for the actions or policies of a foreign or domestic government protected under free speech.” So, sure, one is still free to criticize an elected official, but express any opinion someone else decides is aimed at an individual because of that person’s “actual or perceived characteristics” and one could find oneself in the AG’s crosshairs.
It is easy to see, then, that any expression of opposition to, say, transgender ideology, would get someone reported to the hotline. Free speech – at least in the three Washington counties to which this program will initially be rolled out – appears under threat. If one cannot say anything that another person of a different race, sex, religion, or sexual orientation finds offensive in some way without being reported to the attorney general’s office, then one no longer enjoys the constitutionally protected right to freedom of speech.
Supporters of the bill might argue that this isn’t the US Congress making a law that restricts free speech, so it can’t be unconstitutional. The Washington Constitution, however, also protects free speech. Article I, Section 5: “Every person may freely speak, write and publish on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that right.” Getting away from the sheer creepiness of people being reported to the authorities for merely expressing an opinion, Rep. Cyndy Jacobsen (R-Puyallup) succinctly pointed out the ominous flaw in this bill. “I think it’s difficult to put things into law which look at the intent of people rather than the actions that they take,” she said. Rep. Jim Walsh (R-Aberdeen) agrees, saying: “If a crime is a crime, if someone has been assaulted, if property has been damaged, then the proper recourse is to contact law enforcement and pursue a remedy, pursue justice in that way.”
A Dangerous Road
The potential scope of abuse with this new hotline is vast – especially since any identifying personal information provided to the hotline is “confidential and exempt from public inspection, copying, or disclosure.” Neither is that information to be included in any written reports. That means if anyone wanted to go after someone whose political opinions they don’t like, they could, conceivably, fabricate a “hate crime” or “bias incident” out of nothing. In fact, this new law, which takes effect on Jan. 1, 2025, exempts so much information from public disclosure that there will be no accountability at all to the people of the Evergreen State. After all, faking hate crimes has become common practice for the progressive left.
When any elected (or appointed) official says that restricting free speech is necessary in order to increase public safety, it is crucial for rational people to think about how far such restrictions will go. “Public safety” and “public health emergency” are deliberately vague terms that can be used to justify any violation of individual rights. Perhaps free speech isn’t a priority for them after all.
I want a bumper sticker that says “The only tranny around here is safely bolted up in my van”
I will add to “that warming” on demand.
Centralia on board Mr Berle.
“Use their weapons against them.”
Great point - Conservatives need to WEAPONIZE this law. Just using it for hate-speech against Trump would wind up with the Leftists killing the law.
That’s right, flood the lines with tips about Leftist hate.
As it is, barring a miracle of Almighty God, Ferguson is going to be governor come November.
“Well these People in Washington State allowed this over time and now they are reaping the rewards.’
I know you didn’t go far enough in school to have studied this but that’s called a fallacy of composition. The overall vote was for Inslee but counties like mine voted in the mid 60s for the conservative alternative.
I have been to Washington St a number of times and frankly would never go back as my education has shown me many of your fellow citizen knot heads embrace the crazy. But matters not as unless you want to live under this system better prepare to move.
Republicans should overwhelm their hotlines, reporting every liberal in site. Let’s see how this crap works in reverse.
UI bet “Grandstanding” Bob Ferguson created this anti-speech law. We need to vote him down in his bid for Governor. We have Dave Reichert and Semi Bird running against him. The primary will determine who will be the one. I saw both speak, yesterday, at the King County GOP Convention. Reichert has great name recognition as a Former King County Sheriff and U.S. Representative. He spoke about the fentanyl menace, drug caused homelessness and mobs who block traffic on I-5.
Bird has little name recognition as the Benton County GOP Chairman and a member of the Richland School Board. However, his ability to give speeches is phenomenal. When he told our 410 King County delegates to help send him to Olympia so he can give the Democrats the Bird, it tore the roof off with cheers.
Will anti-white speech be treated as seriously as anti-black speech?
My guess is that if you truthfully report a black person spewing hate, nothing will happen. If you falsely report a white person, the white person will be punished.
Just pick up the phone, and anonymously lie about whitey.
Out of the frying pan, into the fire. Sideshow Bob is going to be in serious contention for worst governor in Washington history. Authoritarian scum, and of course Washington libtards love him to death. As a native Washingtonian it is beyond depressing how low the state has fallen due to one party rule by the Party of Satan.
Just do what Bart Simpson would do and prank call the hotline.
That man’s “smart” phone circuits include “bias!”
The far left strongholds in Seattle and Portland are controlled by purely evil people. Most of them have come from other states. They will not cross those of us who live outside of their putrid areas. In fact, most decent people are leaving Portland. Shops are closing and businesses moving out of the shit hole. The governor Kotex came from California. She’s an ass. Now everybody knows it. These evil people are why Oregon and Washington have become blue because they live in the most populated areas and CHEAT during counting mail in ballots. Ballot stuffing and ballot dumping.
He’s always been a jerk...my dog tried to kill him years ago when I lived on Bainbridge Island. I’ll always regret that leash.
Already being done by AG Bob Ferguson.
He uses the largess of his office to sue or prosecute cases against his ideological opponents then, when he wins, he makes the defeated pay his office's legal expenses associated with the case.
And here is the kicker - he's running for governor. Being a Seattle-ite, he will get that county's far left vote and probably will win.
They also just passed a law that any gun stores have to have a bunch of security systems by July 2025. High resolution cameras and other stuff. The stipulations on just the cameras is crazy with regards to resolution, memory, etc. I forget what the dollar amounts were but it is VERY high and will force most/all of them out of business.
A large gun store with already good security in Seattle suburbs is looking at having to spend $700,000 to meet the new regulations.
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