Georgia Court Throws Out Hate Crimes Law

Georgie is on a roll, first the Patriot Act and now Hate Crime Laws.

ATLANTA (AP) - The Georgia Supreme Court unanimously threw out the state's hate crimes law Monday, calling it overbroad and ``unconstitutionally vague.''

The 7-0 decision called the four-year-old law ``unconstitutionally vague.'' The law had called for stiffer criminal penalties for crimes where a victim is chosen because of ``bias or prejudice.'' But, unlike similar laws in other states, it does not specify which groups might be victims.

The 7-0 ruling came in the case of a white man and woman convicted of an assault on two black men in Atlanta's Little Five Points neighborhood.

www.guardian.co.uk...

The court overruled the hate crime law since virtually every crime contains some form of bias. The court seems to agree, though, on a law that would define targeted groups. Though, I don't agree with the latter. It's good they are throwing out these kinds of laws that take away from the crime itself.

[edit on 25-10-2004 by Jamuhn]