A recent spate of neo-Nazi demonstrations in Nashville has heightened tensions in an already polarized political environment.
Fortunately, there has been bipartisan condemnation of these vile and obscene efforts to promote hatred in our community. However, some Tennessee public officials want to go beyond condemnation, claiming that “hate speech is not free speech.”
This would both be unconstitutional and bad policy. The Supreme Court has consistently upheld “freedom for the thought we hate” excepting narrow categories such as incitement to imminent lawless action or true threats.
Governments can also make rules that are content-neutral. The proposed bill to ban Metro Nashville Police Department officials from associating with hate groups may well pass constitutional muster since it prohibits associating with groups engaged in “criminal acts.”
To understand why criminalizing hate speech is a cure worse than the disease, Nashville leaders should look to the democracies of Europe.
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Jacob Mchangama is the Founder and Executive Director of The Future of Free Speech. He is also a research professor at Vanderbilt University and a Senior Fellow at The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE).