Thought crimes

[Geee]

Washington Times:

In George Orwell’s allegorical novel “Animal Farm,” all animals were equal, but some animals were more equal than others. “Hate-crime” laws treat some victims more equally than others, converting thoughts into crimes. Orwell would understand, but not applaud.

Those who mistreat members of preferred or “enhanced” groups are subject to enhanced punishment on conviction. If the same thug mistreats someone in the same way, but it’s someone who falls outside the “enhanced” demographics, hate is not a crime.

Mark Carson was strolling in New York’s Greenwich Village with a companion after midnight Sunday when he was fatally shot by a man who was said to have been taunting him for being a homosexual. The gunman has been charged with second-degree murder as a hate crime.

A week earlier in Baton Rouge, La., a black man beat up a white family at a gasoline station because they were in the “wrong neighborhood,” as reported by the New Orleans Times-Picayune. The assailant was charged with second-degree battery, but not with a hate crime.

The inconsistency of treatment between the two cases shouldn’t surprise anyone. The hate-crimes statutes on the books in 45 states are vague and their application is arbitrary. Murder is murder, and assault is assault, regardless of whether the perpetrator thinks bad things about the victim’s shoe color, hair color, skin color or the condition of his shirt.