Concerning the article below about hanging a noose from the back of your truck?

during a civil rights march. Isn't that kind of free speech/protest protected by the constitution? It is almost as if the government wants to legislate who or what a person hates. It is still legal in the united states to hate a person because of race, religion, age, sex or any other criteria an individual chooses right?

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/01/24/jena...

Listen.. this is a very important subject... it affects us all and can change the way courts decide on our fundamental constitutional rights. These assholes drove around with ropes attached behind their truck.. yes, they are morons, yes they are ignorant, yes they should be removed from the gene pool, but THEY HAVE A RIGHT TO DO IT. Yes, they shouldnt provoke violence, but if they were just riding around with the ropes behind their truck, that was THEIR WAY OF EXPRESSING THEIR HATRED TOWARD BLACKS. This should be something we should ALL fight for. Today nooses, tomorrow it'll be protesters with anti-government signs calling them terrorists or for being against the government ( AND IT IS ALREADY HAPPENING - look at the WTO protests that happen every single year). Expression is a fundamental right we as Americans should hold dear - and if that means defending these assholes' right to do it, then we should do it. Look at the BIG picture, and not just at these assholes... Now.. if these assholes were ordered by police to leave the area being the noose behind their truck was antagonizing the jena protesters, and they didn't, then that's different. They showed up to protest the jena protesters without a permit.... so they should not have the right to protest at that location... and they should be charged with disorderly conduct if they do not leave.. NOT A HATE CRIME... Look at the BIG PICTURE... this is not the kind of thing we want to leave to the government to decide for us.

Are you saying you could defend that type of behavior??

How a person feels cannot be criminalized. What the person does to act on those feelings can be.

it is free speech and should be protected as such. that doesn't mean that is isn't racist, ignorant, just plain distasteful bullshit though. but that opinion is also free speech :)

The nose crosses the line to advocating action and threats. that is not free speech. Saying you hate all blacks, jews, gays or whatever would be OK, but once you advocate actual violence, as evidenced by the nose, they crossed a line. Not to say he can't and won't fight the charge. He may even win, but hanging the nose is a lot different that simple speech.

Typical hate crime laws criminalize the use of force, or the threat of force, against a person because they are a member of a specific, protected group.

See..he was threatening the use of force against the blacks..making it a crime. If he would have walked up and called them every vile, racist name he could come up with, nothing could be done to him.