Re: So this is a hate crime.
Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2019 5:57 pm
Nothing much surprises me anymore. Welcome to our world.
Makes perfect sense. One is protected speech, the other is designed to bully and intimidate gay people. Plus the flag was attached to a building. Never a good idea.Papa Willie wrote: ↑Thu Sep 12, 2019 5:03 pm So it's okay to burn the American flag, but a hate crime to burn a gay flag.
Help us out with this one, Screwy.
No it's not, you nincompoop. Schmick just laid it out for you.Papa Willie wrote: ↑Thu Sep 12, 2019 8:55 pm I agree about the part of it being a bad idea to burn it while it was still attached to said building, but other than that - if you want to burn the American flag - you can. You should be able to do the same with the fag flag. If not - then total double standards.
You're not very smart. I'm amazed anyone lets you fly them around.Left Seater wrote: ↑Thu Sep 12, 2019 11:05 pm So it is a hate crime to burn someone else’s flag.
I will keep that in mind the next time an America hater burns a US flag.
Papa Willie wrote: ↑Fri Sep 13, 2019 5:46 am FiatLux, who is currently on your ignore list, made this post.
Oh the irony of you two fat stupid fucks.Papa Willie wrote: ↑Fri Sep 13, 2019 1:25 pmIt’s like his double-standardized mind won’t allow him to process what the entire thread is even about.Left Seater wrote:Poor racist snowflake Screwy. Getting his shit kicked again, he has to turn to the other board bitch for support.
Fuck!![]()
If one burns a US flag, what message is being sent? Could be that the individual hates Americans, or that he disagrees with a specific piece of legislation, or simply that he can because the 1st Amendment says he can. CouId be any number of reasons. If the message is that he hates Americans, isn't that bullying and intimidation toward Americans in the same way that burning a homo flag is toward gays, and therefore prosecutable as a hate crime?Screw_Michigan wrote: ↑Thu Sep 12, 2019 6:09 pmOne is protected speech, the other is designed to bully and intimidate gay people.
Smackie Chan wrote: ↑Fri Sep 13, 2019 5:50 pm If the message is that he hates Americans, isn't that bullying and intimidation toward Americans in the same way that burning a homo flag is toward gays, and therefore prosecutable as a hate crime?
You can't possibly believe this.Smackie Chan wrote: ↑Fri Sep 13, 2019 5:50 pmIf one burns a US flag, what message is being sent? Could be that the individual hates Americans, or that he disagrees with a specific piece of legislation, or simply that he can because the 1st Amendment says he can. CouId be any number of reasons. If the message is that he hates Americans, isn't that bullying and intimidation toward Americans in the same way that burning a homo flag is toward gays, and therefore prosecutable as a hate crime?Screw_Michigan wrote: ↑Thu Sep 12, 2019 6:09 pmOne is protected speech, the other is designed to bully and intimidate gay people.
The 1st Amendment gives you and me the right to openly say, "I hate gay people." Doing so is not a crime of the hate variety or otherwise. If flag burning is protected as a form of symbolic speech, and the message I'm trying to send by burning a rainbow flag is that I hate gay people, how is that a hate crime? I haven't threatened or bullied anyone, nor perpetrated any violence toward a group or an individual. I'm simply expressing myself symbolically in a way that is protected by the 1st Amendment. If the flag I burn belongs to someone else, I'm guilty of vandalism, which could be lumped in with other forms of hate crimes, which in and of themselves are pretty lame since they cheapen other motives such as revenge or greed. Why should hate be a more sinister motive than any others?
Screw_Michigan wrote: ↑Fri Sep 13, 2019 7:20 pmYou can't possibly believe this.Smackie Chan wrote: ↑Fri Sep 13, 2019 5:50 pmIf one burns a US flag, what message is being sent? Could be that the individual hates Americans, or that he disagrees with a specific piece of legislation, or simply that he can because the 1st Amendment says he can. CouId be any number of reasons. If the message is that he hates Americans, isn't that bullying and intimidation toward Americans in the same way that burning a homo flag is toward gays, and therefore prosecutable as a hate crime?Screw_Michigan wrote: ↑Thu Sep 12, 2019 6:09 pmOne is protected speech, the other is designed to bully and intimidate gay people.
The 1st Amendment gives you and me the right to openly say, "I hate gay people." Doing so is not a crime of the hate variety or otherwise. If flag burning is protected as a form of symbolic speech, and the message I'm trying to send by burning a rainbow flag is that I hate gay people, how is that a hate crime? I haven't threatened or bullied anyone, nor perpetrated any violence toward a group or an individual. I'm simply expressing myself symbolically in a way that is protected by the 1st Amendment. If the flag I burn belongs to someone else, I'm guilty of vandalism, which could be lumped in with other forms of hate crimes, which in and of themselves are pretty lame since they cheapen other motives such as revenge or greed. Why should hate be a more sinister motive than any others?
Go sit in the corner, adults with functioning brains are discussing serious issues.
You're making my point for me, which is that it is as ridiculous to prosecute a person for burning the American flag as a hate crime toward Americans as it is to prosecute the bozo who torched the pride flag for a hate crime against gays. He was charged with arson, which is an appropriate charge, as would vandalism for destroying someone else's property. What if the motive for burning the flag wasn't hatred toward gays (which in all likelihood it was), but rather that he was trying to get back at the owner of the bar for some perceived wrongdoing (revenge), or that he was in cahoots with the owner to torch the place for insurance (greed)? Why should either of those motives carry less of a sentence than a hate crime? The result is the same, why shouldn't the punishment be?FiatLux wrote: ↑Fri Sep 13, 2019 7:15 pmSmackie Chan wrote: ↑Fri Sep 13, 2019 5:50 pm If the message is that he hates Americans, isn't that bullying and intimidation toward Americans in the same way that burning a homo flag is toward gays, and therefore prosecutable as a hate crime?
Not even close. The American flag represents a nation of people. Of which, said flag-burner is a part of. The rainbow flag at a gay bar is telling people that a certain segment of society is welcome and are probably in attendance at said establishment.
Lighting a flag on fire that is attached to a building puts the occupants of the building in danger with a very good chance that the building could catch fire and the people in the building can be killed, knowing that some if not most of the people in the building are gay.
Which part? Because it all makes perfect sense.
Says the racist snowflake.Screw_Michigan wrote: ↑Fri Sep 13, 2019 8:05 pm Go sit in the corner, adults with functioning brains are discussing serious issues.
Keep pounding that lie BrokenNazi.Left Seater wrote: ↑Fri Sep 13, 2019 8:28 pmSays the racist snowflake.Screw_Michigan wrote: ↑Fri Sep 13, 2019 8:05 pm Go sit in the corner, adults with functioning brains are discussing serious issues.![]()
It doesn't have to be in protest of anything. Flag burning has been deemed symbolic speech. Speech, symbolic or otherwise, is protected (within limits) by the 1st Amendment. I have every right to say "I hate gay people." I don't have the right to act upon that hatred in a way that could harm others (assuming that hurting their feelings isn't considered harmful), but can't I symbolically state by burning a pride flag I rightfully own on my property that I don't like gays and disapprove of their lifestyle rather than, or in addition to, putting those sentiments into spoken or written words?
So we agree on a few points: 1) Hate in and of itself is not a crime, irrespective of whether it's directed toward government, individuals, or groups; 2) the hate crime designation cannot be assigned if the target of the hatred is government; and 3) the existence of hate crime laws is idiotic. Given that hate crime laws do exist, and that the motive for burning the pride flag was likely hatred toward gays, it is probably reasonable to designate his action as a hate crime. What I was hoping Screwy would explain, if he indeed does believe that the existence of hate crime laws is a good thing and that punishments for them should be more severe than those for the same crimes committed for other motives, is why.
For the most part I would say that is true, but it doesn't necessarily have to be. What if an alien (legal or illegal) or a self-loathing citizen burns someone else's US flag on property that isn't his or on public land (let's say at a Trump rally, where it is likely people could be injured or killed by his actions), the property owner disapproves of his actions, and the stated reason for burning it is that he hates Americans rather than the US government? Can that be designated as a hate crime against all Americans? At least one source states that "current statutes permit federal prosecution of hate crimes committed on the basis of a person's protected characteristics of race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability." Isn't American a nationality?
Logic and policy are almost never in line. Logic is cold and hard. Policy needs to be pliable because we don’t always know the truth and so we have to, many times, impute actions and thoughts onto people. Again the whole rabbit hole phenomenon.Smackie Chan wrote: ↑Fri Sep 13, 2019 9:52 pmHow do you rationalize that? Doesn't good policy stem from logical sense?
Element.Smackie Chan wrote: ↑Fri Sep 13, 2019 10:01 pmIs motive (hate) considered an element of HCLs, or is it a mitigating factor in sentencing?
Interesting. My knowledge of the law is obviously quite limited, but it was my understanding that motive is typically not an element of criminal law. I get the "logic" that HCLs are intended to have a greater deterrent effect than non-HCLs (is there any evidence to support or contradict this?). Are there any other crimes for which motive is an element?