August 5, 2009 9:29AM 

# The Folly of Hate Crime Laws 

By [David Rittgers](https://www.cato.org/people/david-rittgers) 

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That’s the title of [Richard Cohen’s op-ed](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/03/AR2009080302222.html) in yesterday’s *Washington Post*. Cohen highlights the futility of using a hate crime to prosecute the Holocaust Museum shooter:

> In von Brunn’s case, the hate-crime counts are an obscenity. To suggest that the effects of this attack were felt only by the Jewish or the black communities — and not, for instance, by your average Washington tourist — ghettoizes both its real and purported victims. It’s a consequence that von Brunn himself might applaud.

I [couldn’t](../../../../../2009/07/15/hate-crimes-bill-becomes-an-amendment/) [agree](../../../../../2009/07/01/hate-crime-legislation-a-shocking-disregard-for-federalism/) [more](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10346).

##### Related Tags 

[Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) 

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