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Abstract: In Wisconsin v. Mitchell the United States Supreme Court upheld the validity of statutes that enhance the penalty for bias motivated crimes - so-called "hate crime" legislation. The result in Mitchell is correct, both from the standpoint of consistency with established free speech doctrine and as a matter of sound free speech policy. But the opinion supporting that result either ignores or deals only superficially with several difficult free speech issues. This Article grapples with those problems to which the Court gave inadequate attention.
Free speech, hate crime, punishment
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