MY TURN: Good intention, but ordinance dangerous

On July 2, the Coeur d’Alene City Council passed a new hate crime ordinance. Honorable intention, dangerous law.

The law is in response to recent incidents of despicable behavior directed at individuals in our community — specifically racist speech. Racist speech is certainly to be condemned, but until now it has not been illegal.

That the council unanimously passed the ordinance is not surprising. There has been a lot of community sentiment to “do something.” Further, if you do not support an anti-hate law, you must be pro-hate, and no one wants that label. The new law provides that if you commit a criminal act and that act has a “discriminatory intent,” you can be charged with an additional crime. Apparently, we must now determine what was in the mind of the perpetrator.

Freedom of speech is the indispensable right upon which our other rights depend. Even inappropriate, unpleasant and vile speech must be protected. Unless everyone enjoys freedom of speech, none of us do. Proponents of the ordinance assert that it does not restrict free speech. This is curious because the proposal is brought forward to do just that — to curtail a particular kind of speech.

In recent years, there has been an alarming trend toward censorship in our country, including self-censorship. This is dangerous because it inhibits the free and honest exchange of ideas, which is essential for constructive dialog that enables us to move forward together. Nothing is more important for meaningful discourse than open forums in which strong opinions can be expressed and received honestly and respectfully. We learned this in civics class, but we have too often forgotten it.

It seems to me unnecessary for the community to wear sackcloth and ashes and to apologize for behavior for which only the offenders should be apologizing. The community is not guilty, and the incidents are only newsworthy since they are unexpected here. More incidents happen in L.A. or Portland in an hour than occur here in a year, but no news there.

Let’s not overreact with collective guilt and put an essential right at risk. Just punish the crime and avoid the thought police.

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Dean Haagenson is a Hayden resident.