Leftists being devious about "Hate Crimes" bill?

From the Leftist "Media Matters":

"CNN's Deborah Feyerick reported the charge from "some lawmakers and religious groups" that the hate crimes bill "could be used to criminalize conservative speech on abortion or homosexuality." But she did not note that the bill specifically states, "Nothing in this Act shall be construed to allow prosecution based solely upon an individual's expression of racial, religious, political, or other beliefs."

Source

What the above appears to overlook is that the bill has undergone various changes during its now rather long life and I must confess that there might have been a recent change that has escaped me. As far as I can see, however, Media Matters is referring to an older version of the bill rather than the current one. What is apparently the current text of the bill is here. The definitions it refers to are from H.R.3355 (Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994) and can be found here. Earlier versions of the bill did explicitly include a statement that speech was not targeted but that has now gone. At the end of the bill there is simply a pointless assertion that the bill does not attack any constitutional protections (such as the 1st Amendment).


Posted by John Ray.