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Piers Morgan: Let’s face it, white people who use the N-word should be in jail
Hotair ^ | 06/22/2015 | AllahPundit

Posted on 06/22/2015 5:33:28 PM PDT by SeekAndFind

Say this for the guy: It takes some Jedi-level trolling to make yourself part of another country’s national debate about racism after a mass murder when you don’t even count as a celebrity there anymore.

I like that he calls for actual jail time, not a fine or parole or some other more ceremonial penalty. If we’re going to carve out First Amendment exceptions for thoughtcrimes, might as well be bold about it.

What would I do with white people who use the N-word? Jail them.

— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) June 22, 2015

Not to play a fool’s game here, but why limit punishment to white offenders? Believe it or not, that’s probably the biggest constitutional problem with his idea. The First Amendment is an obstacle too — a law that purported to criminalize the use of the N-bomb would probably be unconstitutional in any federal court in the country at the moment — but that obstacle might be cleared in due time. Remember Chris Cuomo mumbling about the “fighting words” exception to free speech? The “fighting words” doctrine says that the state can ban words which are so inflammatory that their mere utterance is apt to incite a breach of the peace. If there’s any word in American life that a majority of the public might agree rises to that level of inflammation, it’s the word “nigger.” In fact, Cuomo explicitly analogized between that word and drawings of Mohammed to try to capture how insulting Pam Geller had been to Muslims. If the left ever fully commits to trying to ban “hate speech,” Morgan’s idea is their strongest play, a potential foot in the door of First Amendment jurisprudence. Get one word banned successfully and then everything afterward is a simple matter of analogy. If people deserve jail time for the N-word, why doesn’t a cartoonist deserve it for a Mohammed drawing? Hate is hate, right?

How would you write that law to maximize its chances of passing Fourteenth Amendment scrutiny? Any thoughts, legal eagles? Treating a certain kind of behavior as a crime only when someone of a particular race engages in it seems … not so progressive, a prime facie violation of equal protection. I guess there are ways you could torture the jurisprudence to find that it’s copacetic — if protecting minorities (“suspect classes”) is the chief concern of equal protection, a law that focused on wrongdoing committed exclusively by the majority would be kinda sorta okay-ish if you squint real hard, I guess? I dunno. Presumably you write the law neutrally, making racist intent an element of the crime, and trust that prosecutors will understand that one black person calling another “nigga” playfully doesn’t meet the definition. But let’s not overthink this. Morgan’s not making a legal argument (the niceties of Second Amendment jurisprudence have never slowed him down from backing gun-grabbing), he’s making a moral argument to show his Twitter followers how enlightened he is. How enlightened is he? So enlightened that he’d eagerly embrace a precedent in which the state can imprison people for their opinions, obnoxious though they may be. Which is darned enlightened.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: freedomofspeech; nword; piersmorgan; racism
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Well, let's start with Obama, and then the rappers.
1 posted on 06/22/2015 5:33:28 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

Piers Morgan — Trayvon Martin apologist


2 posted on 06/22/2015 5:35:06 PM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: SeekAndFind

The little Nazis are getting more bold and frequent with their pronunciations.


3 posted on 06/22/2015 5:35:11 PM PDT by Crazieman (Article V or National Divorce. The only solutions now.)
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To: SeekAndFind

FUPM


4 posted on 06/22/2015 5:35:42 PM PDT by South40 ("I probably identify more as a Democrat." ~Donald Trump)
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To: SeekAndFind

I say Piers Morgan and all other gonad gobblers should be put on an island. Antarctica, preferably.


5 posted on 06/22/2015 5:36:14 PM PDT by West Texas Chuck (OVER? We decide when it's over. Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? HELL NO!)
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To: SeekAndFind

So since Obama used the N word and is half white, he should be given a “half-sentence?” Jist askin......


6 posted on 06/22/2015 5:36:16 PM PDT by goodn'mad
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To: SeekAndFind

Piers continues with his gay suggestions.


7 posted on 06/22/2015 5:36:38 PM PDT by Paladin2 (Ive given up on aphostrophys and spell chek on my current device...)
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To: SeekAndFind

Scratch a liberal, find a fascist. Why not camps, Piers?


8 posted on 06/22/2015 5:36:40 PM PDT by Billthedrill
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To: SeekAndFind
So Piers, what you are saying is that you want two separate legal systems? One for black people and one for white people?

Piers you are truly racist!
9 posted on 06/22/2015 5:36:42 PM PDT by Jan_Sobieski (Sanctification)
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To: Crazieman

Why not, they are on a role and have found the perfect vehicle now to forward their agenda.


10 posted on 06/22/2015 5:37:28 PM PDT by headstamp 2
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To: SeekAndFind

Chris rock is gone then. So is Dave Chappelle, and most of the S. side of Chicago.


11 posted on 06/22/2015 5:37:36 PM PDT by VanDeKoik
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To: SeekAndFind

Locking people in jail by comparing what they say (say, not so) to the color of their skin.


12 posted on 06/22/2015 5:37:42 PM PDT by samtheman
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To: SeekAndFind

Piers is a Nword wannabe


13 posted on 06/22/2015 5:37:50 PM PDT by bert ((K.E.; N.P.; GOPc.;+12, 73, ..... No peace? then no peace!)
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To: samtheman

jailed for uttering a word

wow

fascist much...


14 posted on 06/22/2015 5:38:20 PM PDT by GeronL
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To: SeekAndFind

Cue the Jeremy graphic.

oh and let’s face it, Piers Morgan is an idiot.


15 posted on 06/22/2015 5:38:22 PM PDT by headstamp 2
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To: SeekAndFind

“What would I do with white people who use the N-word? Jail them.”

Spoken like a true Stalinist.

Nazi much, Mr. Morgan?


16 posted on 06/22/2015 5:38:42 PM PDT by navyguy (The National Reset Button is pushed with the trigger finger.)
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To: SeekAndFind
'Nincompoop'.. THERE. I said it. Jail me.

Piers idea would land nearly every black person in America in jail.

17 posted on 06/22/2015 5:38:42 PM PDT by CivilWarBrewing
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To: SeekAndFind

“What would I do with white people who use the N-word? Jail them.”

Spoken like a true Stalinist.

Nazi much, Mr. Morgan?


18 posted on 06/22/2015 5:38:43 PM PDT by navyguy (The National Reset Button is pushed with the trigger finger.)
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To: headstamp 2

roll


19 posted on 06/22/2015 5:38:56 PM PDT by headstamp 2
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To: SeekAndFind

Piers is such a grandstanding whore. Put him up in a motel in Detroitor Flint, MI for a night and he might understand the meaning of the word from an enlightened perspective.


20 posted on 06/22/2015 5:39:03 PM PDT by jsanders2001
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