Stop HR 256 and HR 262

Hate crime legislation has come up again in the Congress. Our freedom of speech rights are at stake. Tell your congressman that Congress has no right to limit what we can and can’t say (1st amendment).

Contact your congressman at:

http://www.house.gov

Here is a sample letter (add your own comments):

Dear Representative _______:

Please do NOT vote for the federal hate crimes bills, HR 256 and HR 262. It’s not right to give a certain segment of the population extra protections under the law by giving heavier sentences for people who commit crimes against members of that segment. When the government starts prosecuting people for what they think, they have gone too far. These bills also contain funding for (pro-homosexual) “Anti-Hate” education programs.

On Oct. 8, 2004, 11 Christians were arrested and jailed for 21 hours under Pennsylvania's anti-hate law. They had been peacefully preaching at a "Gay Pride" parade.

While "Anti-Hate" legislation gives the impression of protecting the civil rights of minorities from bias-motivated violence or intimidation, it actually leads to loss of free speech. Under Canada's anti-hate law, it is now illegal to criticize homosexual behavior over the airwaves, in print, or in public. The consequences: large fines and imprisonment.

The FBI's annual "Uniform Crime Report" consistently shows that so-called "hate crimes" constitute only about 1/15th of 1% of all crime in America. Of this 1/15th of 1%, most have not been adjudicated but are called "crime" because of the conclusions of investigating police. Actually, most are "suspected bias crimes incidents," not proven crimes. Such infinitesimal numbers of proven hate crimes does not justify unprecedented, massive intrusion of the federal government into local law enforcement.

Respectfully-