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.
History is rhyming.
And hopefully we wake up from it soon!
Yes, sadly.
One would think that the governor’s house just might be on fire.
Is it?
Use their weapons against them. If you know some irritating liberals call into the hotline and file a complaint.
Why would the Houthis and Khamas do this to us?
So if someone hates me for being a “Trumper” then I can report them.
If left the shithole Portland had become and now we’ve got this! :-(((
it will be like politically motivated investigations
these “bias claims” will leak like a sieve
they will be ammunition for the cancel culture
We need to start making plans to end the nightmares. Or the nightmares are going to succeed in ending us.
Washington’s legislature is also in the process of enacting a bill, in the name of combatting global warming, that will make it illegal to use natural gas as a heat source.
It’s expected to cost the average homeowner $40,000 to convert from gas to electric heat. After which that homewoners bills for heat are expected to double.
And of course the extra demand for electricity will probably lead to brownouts due to lack of capacity.
Needless to say, the lamestream media hasn’t even bothered to report on this.
https://www.biaw.com/house-passes-hb-1589-clearing-path-for-electrification-energy-rate-hikes/
70-80% of people in the governor’s county would be in favor of this.
See my new temporary tag line.
And of course the extra demand for electricity will probably lead to brownouts due to lack of capacity.
= = =
If they then have any speck of sanity left, they will not want to remove Grand Coulee Dam.
Totally meaningless when it comes to the regressives here in WA. The Constitution also states, "Absolute freedom of conscience in all matters of religious sentiment, belief and worship, shall be guaranteed to every individual, and no one shall be molested or disturbed in person or property on account of religion;"(Art.I, section 11), but that didn't stop Inslee or our Fascist of an AG Bob Ferguson for going after silver haired grandma Baronelle Stutzman who, based on her religious convictions, refused to arrange flowers at a homo wedding.
Regressives don't give a flip what the law or what Constitutions may say. They just want obedience at any cost.
islam is a totalitarian death cult founded by a child rapist.
I live in Tacoma, WA and will defend free speech to the death.
That tactic of turning in a Liberal worked within a week somewhere else they tried this anti free speech nonsense. They had to close the hotline….
Well these People in Washington State allowed this over time and now they are reaping the rewards. I would move to another State..
no, these are just pleasant dreams so far.
Just wait till they sub Inslee for Biden and he wins the Election for President.
(it will all be fair and square of course, just like it was when Rosi lost the Wa governors race)
can you imagine Ferguson as US Atty General?
several states tried setting up snitch lines- and soon took them down because they got overwhelmed by folks flooding the hotlines with nonsense reports-
overwhelm the hotline-
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