[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

I see what you are saying. I do think it matters as a matter of precedent. I am not a big fan of the hate crime laws anyway. Isn’t all murder varying degrees of hate? Certainly it is not love. And tagging other crimes as hate just to make the punishment more severe seems wrong to me. Doesn’t all crime have a bad motive? It makes sense to take motive into account to the degree that it is premeditated. But “hate” just results in making some people more valuable than other people.

[okie01]

But “hate” just results in making some people more valuable than other people. p> The existence of "hate crimes" as an incremental criminal act sets the stage for the eventual treatment of "hate" as a free-standing crime.

This allows the criminalization of language, even thought -- which is a long-term objective of the Left.