A new bill introduced in the House last week aims to curb White supremacy and hate crimes, but it has also sparked concern that it would blow a hole through the First Amendment.
The Leading Against White Supremacy Act of 2023, sponsored by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, would make it a federal crime not just to commit a crime that is inspired by White supremacy, but to post something on social media that promotes White supremacist views if someone else then sees it and commits a crime.
"It is a criminal hate speech law that would violate core principles of the First Amendment," George Washington University Law Professor Jonathan Turley wrote in a Tuesday blog post. "It makes clear that the accused does not actually have to support or conspire in a crime."
Much of the bill deals with making it a crime to commit "conspiracy to engage in white supremacy inspired hate crime," outlining the elements of such an offense. Normally, criminal conspiracy statutes require two or more people working together toward the commission of a crime, but this bill only requires one person to actually be involved in the crime, if another person "published material advancing...
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