HB151 revises Delaware’s hate crime statute to make law enforcement, firefighters and emergency personnel protected classes. This legislation seems to be in response to the murder of State Police Corporal Stephen Ballard, though Cpl. Ballard was not necessarily directly targeted. Regardless, as opposed to reinstating the death penalty as a response to Cpl. Ballard’s murder, this seems to be actually a good idea. Because if you are targeting a first responder for an attack for the sole reason that they are a police officer or paramedic or a firefighter, then you are attacking a group and not a person. Thus, the same logic for the hate crime legislation in the first place applies.
AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO HATE CRIMES..
UPDATED: 6/8/17
SPONSORS: Hudson, Cloutier, Ennis, Marshall, D.Short, Wilson, Hocker, Walsh, Briggs King, Kenton, Miro, Mitchell, Outten, Ramone, M.Smith, Spiegelman
YES VOTES: HOUSE: _______________ SENATE:______________________
NO VOTES: HOUSE: _______________ SENATE:______________________
HISTORY: Reported out of committee
STATUS: On Ready List waiting for a vote.
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No, actually. A police officer is a representative of the state. This is the first step toward criminalizing Black Lives Matter.
How do you figure? Are members of Black Lives Matter murdering police officers? No, they are not. In fact, Black Lives Matter is protesting the reverse: the unnecessary and unjustified murders of black suspects.
Now, if you want to argue the slippery slope argument that we should not be legislating what is in people’s hearts and minds as they commit an act, that is fine, but that argument applies to all hate crime categories, including African Americans, Latinos, Men, Women, Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Gay and Lesbian.
It isn’t a stretch to imagine a prosecutor using this “Hate Crime” as a way to push back against anyone who might be arrayed against the police for any reason. Sandra Bland, for instance. Even those crazy anarchists. The point being that this particular “Hate Crime” will get pressed against anyone who is up against the police for any reason whatsoever and it does not need to be for murder.
Don’t all criminals “hate” the police. I’m sick to death of all this first responder ra, ra bullshit.
Being hated comes with the territory in police work, politics, repo work…etc..
People who can’t abide being hated ought to seek other employment.
I would, in fact, argue against all “hate” crime legislation, which originated because burning a cross was only a misdemeanor.
But that’s not my argument here. My argument here is that any action against the police could be interpreted as a “hate” crime under such legislation, which would be the first step in taking legal action against BLM should violence ever take place at one of their events — even if such violence was started by an undercover law enforcement agent.
Right-wingers hate all sorts of people based on the job the person does — climate scientist, for example. Unless such protection is extended to all, it should not be extended to any.