hate crime laws have long faced criticism from the left on the grounds of being ineffective for deterring racist violence and paradoxically most likely to criminalize the vulnerable.
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I had no idea about the foundational and ongoing role the ADL played in shaping hate crime legislation. Will certainly read up on that. Thank for this informative and chilling piece.
now, these laws are being used as part of a larger scale criminalization of pro-palestine protest. Since Oct 7, prosecutors have pursued hate crime prosecutions even when evidence of the crime proved dubious, or have sought to equate anti-Zionism w antisemitism.
I report on Elias and Hannah, who, in Manhattan and Boise, respectively, had their lives disrupted when they were charged with hate crimes after two-way minor altercations with pro-Israel individuals. The pro-Israel individuals faced no charges in either case.
I also report on cases of anti-Israel vandalism and Israeli flag burning that were construed by prosecutors as anti-Jewish hate crimes. Defense lawyers say that prosecutors and judges in these cases often had little background in the nuances of anti-Zionism and antisemitism.
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