In January, Democrat Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee introduced the Leading Against White Supremacy Act of 2023. The bill is one of the most radical, unconstitutional pieces of legislation proposed in years.
The Leading Against White Supremacy Act aims to “prevent and prosecute white supremacy inspired hate crime and conspiracy to commit white supremacy inspired hate crime and to amend title 18, United States Code, to expand the scope of hate crimes.”
Under the proposed bill, “A person engages in a white supremacy inspired hate crime when white supremacy ideology has motivated the planning, development, preparation, or perpetration of actions that constituted a crime or were undertaken in furtherance of activity that, if effectuated, would have constituted a crime.”
In other words, Jackson Lee’s legislation would make any crime or an attempt to commit a crime that is arguably “motivated” by white supremacy ideology a hate crime, which would carry with it a harsher penalty than other crimes not motivated by “hate.”
On its own, this provision is extremely problematic. Although ideological views that are truly rooted in white supremacy are undeniably repugnant, Jackson Lee offers no definition of “white supremacy ideology” in the bill, opening the door to wild interpretations that could unjustly increase legal punishments for defendants in court.
Jackson Lee’s legislation doesn’t stop there, however. The most important part of the legislation is its “conspiracy” provision, which would make it illegal to “publish” material that inspires a crime deemed to be motivated by white supremacy — which, again, is not
