Hate Crime Legislation

[Eilonnwy]

The distinction is the actual crime. Hate speech is actually not illegal in the US thanks to the first amendment. As long as you're just talking, it's freedom of speech. A hate crime is when an action is taken that is illegal (assault, murder) and is spurred by prejudice. Does that clarify it?

Not really ... aren't those things already illegal?

Kyu

You mean Hate Speech? Kind of. Not completely. There is a slight distinction that the US makes concerning Hate Speech, otherwise it's protected under the first ammendment.

In some jurisdictions, notably the United States, hate speech cannot be directly regulated because of a widespread consensus that suppressing viewpoints based on content alone is outright wrong or leads to a slippery slope (that is, who is to decide what content is a priori true or correct) which ultimately destroys the marketplace of ideas. In particular, the United States government and the state governments are broadly forbidden by the First Amendment of the Constitution from restricting speech. Jurists generally understand this to mean that the government cannot regulate the content of speech, but that it can address the harmful effects of speech through laws such as those against defamation or incitement to riot. Even then, incitement in the U.S. is prohibited only if it raises the risk of imminent lawless action, which means that Americans are permitted to express a large amount of hate speech that does not meet that standard (as occurred in the landmark case of Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969)).

The full article lists countries that do have hate speech laws.