"Thought Crime"

This Orwellian concept is rife in the “hate crimes laws” now being promoted in congress. It punishes us for what we’re “thinking.” There are already laws against any kind of violence, But these "hate crime" laws punish you for your thoughts. I hate bigots as much as anybody, but passage of these laws only give our politicians a way to punish people for things THEY don’t like. After its passage, all it takes is for a bureaucrat to DECLARE it a “hate crime” to put into effect a completely new set of systems that violate our constitutional rights, and for WHAT? To punish someone for his THOUGHTS? (Jacob Sullum)