On May 8, the United States Attorney’s Office along with the Vermont Attorney General’s Office and the Rutland Area NAACP co-hosted a Hate-Free Vermont forum for the Orange County community.
The event, hosted in Randolph with some participating by videoconference, was the fourth in an ongoing series that started in 2019. Other recent Hate-Free Vermont forums have taken place in Franklin County, Rutland and Bennington.
While participants were generally supportive of social justice efforts — including the use preferred pronouns for transgenders — some law enforcement officials cautioned that laws protect First Amendment free speech, including speech that others might find offensive.
‘Very little’ can be labeled ‘a hate crime’
Jules Torti, who works in civil rights for the United States Attorney’s Office, was one of the key speakers at the event. She explained that while some people may get upset about speech that is overtly offensive, that does not guarantee that legal action can be pursued.
HATE FREE VERMONT: At a recent Hate-Free Vermont event there was continued outcry for compassion towards minorities, transgenders and other groups — but law enforcement said free speech also must be respected.
“A hate crime is a buzzy word, it’s one that we hear a lot,” she said. “… In fact very little of what I hear about qualifies as a hate crime.”
“They can be crimes — you can get punched in the face because of some aspect of your identity, and that’s a crime. You can have your property destroyed, [and] that’s a crime that’s punishable by going to jail among other things,” Torti said.
She said a victim may feel bad, but it’s still not a crime unless someone was hurt or property was destroyed. In those instances, community advocacy is called for, not arresting someone and issuing a charge.
Such scenarios are sometimes called biased-motivated incidents.
“So a lot of what happens to people — I think probably most of what happens to people that is a negative, bad, traumatic experience concerning folks’ identity — is actually not against the law at all,” Torti said.
The Compelled Speech Doctrine and officer staffing challenges
The compelled speech doctrine, which is part of the First Amendment, says government can’t force individuals to support certain expression or political views.
At the event, Torti noted that while each case may have distinct circumstances, there are laws in place that provide a constitutional framework.
“There are certain federal laws that authorize our office, the DOJ, to address usually patterns and practices of constitutional violations, so we would always have to look at the thing that’s happening and look at the law and figure it out, — but that’s the framework for our office,” she said.
Lt. Barbara Kessler, who spoke for the Vermont State Police’s Fair and Impartial Policing unit, noted that police staffing levels have an impact on the ability to investigate hate crimes and hate speech.
“It’s been very difficult for us and all police departments,” she said, “but staffing issues don’t change our job descriptions or our duties.”
Difficulty in identifying a prosecutable crime
Julio Thompson, assistant attorney general and the Attorney General’s Office civil rights unit director, discussed what people can do if they believe they are a victim of a hate crime yet no crime was identified.
“You go to the police department, the officer finds out what happens, and they either tell right away that it’s not a crime, or maybe they send it to the county prosecutor who decides it’s not a crime, there’s nothing a prosecutor can do, [so] they can’t take the case to court,” he said.
Michael Bielawski is a reporter for True North. Send him news tips at bielawski82@yahoo.com and follow him on Twitter @TrueNorthMikeB.
Julio Thompson, assistant attorney general and the Attorney General’s Office civil rights unit director, discussed what people can do if they believe they are a victim of a hate crime **yet no crime was identified**.
This is what you get from BAR Association trained attorneys. For there to be a “hate crime”, there must first have been an actual crime, that you can pin your special label to. And a crime is prosecuted by the damaged party or nobody, not the DA/AG or public prosecutor. You want to make a claim of a crime against you, you better be ready to prosecute that claim in court. The days of sicking the public servants on people you don’t like are over. I can hate anybody I damned well please.
Oh how the imbeciles must be boiling, their new weapon against their political enemies isn’t working out like they hoped. DAHahahaha!
“The very reason for the First Amendment is to make the people of this country free to think, speak, write and worship as they wish, not as the Government commands.”
-Associate Justice Hugo L. Black
“Our whole constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men’s minds.”
Thurgood Marshall-Supreme Court Justice
There is no such thing as “Hate Speech” and crime is crime..all of it is wrong.
This is about Control.
There are things that one says that others don’t like and they are using the law as their own personal enforcers..against all things they don’t like to squash any dissent.
Free Speech means speaking freely. Period.
These tyrants in Montpelier seem to be forgetting that we are free people in a free nation and none of this came from them– our rights are God Given and cannot be taken from us by a radical group of Communists that stole the power they think they have over the people.
The Supreme Court long ago ruled regarding the distinction between protected speech and criminal threatening, which may constitute a crime and also defined what are “fighting words”. The left wants to use the concept of the “microaggression” to provide a legal equivalence of saying something that “makes someone feel bad” is the same as hitting them with a 2 by 4. They argue that “feeling bad” is physiologically stressful and brings about similar harm as a physical attack. They now specifically further stretch this concept to: if you dont embrace fully every aspect of the transgender lifestyle, that makes you transphobic, makes trannies feel bad, harms them and they are now entitled to harm you. Lefties hate the Constitution, especially freedom of expression. Only an idiot would vote for someone who does not value freedom of expression, but yet a majority of Vermonters vote this way. Liberalism is a mental disorder, prime evidence being that their obsession to virtue signal extends into the supposed anonymity of the voting process. Every 2 years we vote for the death of common sense and the devaluing of the Bill of Rights.
Rich this is not The United States Of Feelings.
They have elevated FEELINGS over facts because feelings can sway with the political winds.
This is just the same things as everything now being “Fluid”- including genders.
Right along with Borderless Nations and the belief that our Constitution is “Living”.
It’s all the same thinking.. it’s all designed by them so that anything at all can mean whatever they want it to mean at that time.. to work for whatever they are cramming down our throats.
The answer is Love.
We need to steep ourselves in truth and love. Many have never heard the following….
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
But the world does not embrace truth and love, instead the world embraces, strife, hatred, lust, power and money. And here we are in 2023
Neil, your quote from 1 Corinthians 13 defines love very concisely. However, looking at the passage in context, Paul was addressing the Corinthian Church in light of some divisions among its members. There was one thing that the members of the Corinthian Church had in common, though. That was the recognition and acceptance of the atoning work of Jesus for their salvation. The culture in which we live is what is commonly referred to as “post Christian” or “post modern”. The love that God displayed for us in Jesus life, death, and resurrection has been discarded and downplayed to the point where there is no room for anything but discontent, selfishness, and hate. Can that discontent, selfishness, and hate possibly be viewed as a desperate cry for a sense of love and belonging? Let the readers determine that for themselves. The answers to divisive issues are not found in the White House or the Statehouses of our nation, but rather in a return to the principle of treating others as we would like to be treated.
Shalom and God Bless!
Gandhi said that if Christians believed in Jesus he would become one. In other words, they are not very good role models.
The only “perfect Christian” was Jesus. The rest of us are all sinners like everyone else and we struggle daily with it. The only difference is that we have placed our hope, comfort, and redemption at the foot of the cross of Christ. The problem arises when some might think themselves better than others because of their faith…which none of us are. Believers in Jesus are not perfect, just redeemed. We do not have a “religion” but rather a relationship. We must daily work on that relationship with Jesus by acknowledging our sins and asking for forgiveness which he will truly give if we have sincerely placed our faith in him. Read Romans 7:14-20 and what the apostle Paul said in his letter to the believers in Rome. It describes the struggle that all of us sinners face.
God Bless and Shalom!
What you say is true for most, sadly. Many report to be Christians, but they are not, because of exactly what you say.
Everyone is at their own place in life, but what direction do they look? We are hopeless sinners, who can only stand in awe of the perfection found in Jesus. True we need more of him and less of us.
Yet it was and is the Christian love and ability to discern truth that all despots fear. That is why the Bible is not allowed in many countries, why some “religions” will not allow an open discussion of Jesus. His word is the sword that no one can defend against, as it is truth and love.
We could all benefit from a bit more love and forgiveness, from others, for others and from within. We most. Certainly are not perfect, everyday it becomes more clear. Which only strengthens the dependence upon he that is. TGBTG
Considering the Congressional hearings grilling the Justice Dept for infiltrating churches, raiding and arresting (at gun point) a pro-life supporter, backdoor censorship at Twitter, public speeches of Maxine Waters, the Squad, Shifty-Schiff, the MSM commentators, and the long-awaited Durham report, there is nothing coming out of the mouth of the Judiciary, the media, or our government is believable or Truthful. The rule of diminishing returns is the bed they made to lay in now.
That’s rich the biggest dividers of human kind, leftist government and BLM’ers wanting to prosecute the hate they stir up. Again the constitution stands in their way with the right to free speech. If you want less hate speech don’t piss off the public. Speech is the only weapon left to fight against those screwing up our lives. I hate leftist pukes and racism promoters.
This comment is spot on! Nothing else to say…