New Haven police arrested Paul Smith Monday because of an incident that occurred on the afternoon of June 2. Smith had allegedly accosted a small group of men wearing yarmulkes in downtown New Haven and in a rage yelled at them and called them “baby killers” and asked them if they liked “geno cide.” Smith threw a rolled up newspaper at them and knocked a yarmulke off the head of one of the men. After Smith’s tirade he left the area and went home to his crib in East Haven. The New Haven Jewish community, of which I am a member, was outraged. The New Haven police posted a picture of Smith that was captured on a video surveillance camera on Crown Street, the hottest area in town for bars, restaurants and parties. Paul was charged with disorderly conduct, a low-level misdemeanor, and intimidation based on bigotry, a low-level felony. Connecticut has adopted a long list of “hate crime laws” that have elevated misdemeanor level crimes into felony level “hate crimes.” The state’s attorney has to prove the following on the hate crime: (a) A person is guilty of intimidation based on bigotry or bias in the second degree when such person maliciously, and with specific intent to intimidate or harass another person or group of persons motivated in whole or in substantial part by the actual or perceived race, religion, ethnicity, disability, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity or expression of such other person or group of persons, does any of the following: (1) Causes physical contact with such other person or group of persons, (2) damages, destroys or defaces any real or personal property of such other person or group of persons, or (3) threatens, by word or act, to do an act described in subdivision (1) or (2) of this subsection, if there is reasonable cause to believe that an act described in subdivision (1) or (2) of this subsection will occur. Having represented criminal defendants for many years, argued criminal cases before the Connecticut Appellate and Supreme courts, and having personally served a federal prison sentence for a crime I committed, I believe hate-crime statutes contribute to an already over-criminalized society. There are thousands of criminal laws on the books at the federal, state, and local levels, regulating an ever-expanding range of conduct. At the same time, the United States maintains one of the highest incarceration rates in the world, even with the recent drop in overall crime. If a person becomes intoxicated and utters racist slurs, the conduct obviously is offensive. but should it result in enhanced criminal punishment solely because of the speaker’s upbringing? If an individual posts hateful comments on social media, such as when Kanye West posted “Death Con 3 on the Jews,” should the government respond by arresting Kanye? In a nation already burdened by over-criminalization and mass incarceration, the answer is more protection of speech, not more prosecutions and more people behind bars. When will the government start subjecting us to lie detector tests and ask us whether we ever had a racist thought or uttered a racist slur, and make arrests basted on our thoughts? Smith’s next court date is July 16. If Smith doesn’t have a prior criminal record, he most likely will apply for accelerated rehabilitation (AR), which would lead to the dismissal of the charges. Usually you can’t get AR if the victims object. Will the Jewish community show up at the courthouse and hold signs and publicly scold, shame and humiliate Smith? I don’t think that would be productive. I was raised by a family of poor Italian Jews who immigrated to the very wealthy and preppy town of Fairfield. My patriarchs survived for many years in a dangerous foreign land known as the Bronx. I was the victim of all kinds of hate crimes growing up in this very Irish and WASPy town of Fairfield. At the same time I was treated very kindly by my Irish overlords, and they always invited the Jew boy to their keg parties at Sasco Beach. I never went crying to the police every time someone called me “Christ killer,” “Jew-boy,” “Kike,” or “Heeb,” or laughed at me for wearing cheap Pro Ked sneakers because that was all my parents could afford at the time. Smith may have some good defenses to these charges. The state has to prove that he was motivated by the “race or religion” of the victims when he yelled “baby killers” who support “genocide.” It doesn’t appear that Smith called anyone a racial slur such as “Heeb” or “Jew-boy.”  History teaches that the power of the government to punish disfavored beliefs can be turned against anyone who is unpopular at the moment. The First Amendment protects unpopular speech against overzealous governmental employees who abuse their positions and power. The post Opinion: “Hate Crime” Charge Not So Simple appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less