No Free Speech for Racists in the European Union—And That's a Bad Thing
European Union officials are making racist and hate speech illegal, the Washington Post reports. To wit:
"There are no safe havens in Europe for racist violence, for anti-Semitism, for people concretely inciting xenophobic hatred," said the E.U. justice commissioner, Franco Frattini.
The documents urge E.U. nations to impose prison sentences of up to three years for individuals convicted of denying genocide, such as the mass killing of Jews during World War II or the massacres in Rwanda in 1994.The rules would require countries to prosecute offenders in connection with killings that have been recognized as genocides by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Frankly, I am very proud to live in a country where racists are free to say any damn thing they want and where I'm free to call them moronic assholes to their faces. That's why the ACLU is absolutely right to defend the free speech rights of neo-Nazis and Ku Klux dumbfucks. As the ACLU correctly explains:
The principles of the First Amendment are indivisible. Extend them on behalf of one group and they protect all groups. Deny them to one group, and all groups suffer.
Disclosure: I have been a card-carrying member of the ACLU for almost four years now.
