A Nation Going Gently Into the Night

The Star Chamber Makes a Comeback in the UK

A fundamental ethical principle that underscores freedom is:  not all sins are crimes.  Imagine if this were not observed and protected in a country.  Since sin is pervasive in all human communities the criminal code would expand to cover all areas of human life--leading to an extreme totalitarian state. 

To lie is to commit sin.  Imagine, however,  if all lies were criminalised.   Imagine a child lied to his parents about where he got the fifty cent coin that has been discovered in his pockets.  Off to court, guilty conviction, and a criminal sentence for the child.  Or, imagine an adult embellishing his employment record.  His "exaggeration" is discovered and he is arrested on the spot for the "crime" of lying.

But in the UK, things are even more extreme.  The definition of what constitutes a "sin" is entirely in the "eyes and ears" of the observer.  One female may regard a male's wolf whistle as harmless, and a bit of fun.  The next may regard it as and offensive hate crime because it demeans and degrades her.  That legitimately qualifies as both a sin and a crime in the United Kingdom--even if the "crime" is not written up in the statute book.

The only upshot possible from such legal abuse is an eventual tyranny over its citizens.   But the form in which this tyranny is unfolding is unique to our generation.  In the United Kingdom sins--and what constitutes a sin--are in the eye and ear of the observer.  Not only are sins crimes, but the definition of a sin lies entirely with the complainant. 

This, from The Federalist:

English police are now calling on citizens to report hate incidents. Reporting friends and neighbors to the police has terrible historical connotation, and for good reason. It is legitimate fascism. Timid citizenries are easy to control — fear that even a coworker could file a report to the police can keep people in check.

The latest call for action in England is from the South Yorkshire Police on Twitter. Similar reporting requests are posted on the United Kingdom government website. Two tweets from the South Yorkshire Police over the weekend requesting citizens to report hate matters to police should grab our attention.

The first calls out any hate “incident or crime.” There is a meaningful distinction there. The tweet defines hate incidents as “motivated by prejudice or hostility (or perceived to be so)…” The tweet ends with, “Report it and put a stop to it.”

 Hate can be any incident or crime, motivated by prejudice or hostility (or perceived to be so) against a person’s race, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity or disability. Hate hurts and nobody should have to tolerate it. Report it and put a stop to it #HateHurts

To be clear, reportable incidents under this scheme have as low a bar as non-crime incidents merely perceived to be hostile. This would be hilarious if it was not so serious. Law enforcement is now soliciting people to turn others in for being offensive. Freedom from criminal investigation and arrest may now be subject to someone else’s feelings or perceptions in England.

The second tweet explicitly calls on citizens to “please report non-crime hate incidents, which can include things like offensive or insulting comments, online, in person, or in writing.” Reporting non-crimes to the police already seems like a waste of time and resources, but reporting people to the police for being offensive crosses the line into fascist territory. 

SouthYorkshirePolice
✔
@syptweet
 In addition to reporting hate crime, please report non-crime hate incidents, which can include things like offensive or insulting comments, online, in person or in writing. Hate will not be tolerated in South Yorkshire. Report it and put a stop to it #HateHurtsSY

Of course, hate crimes and legitimate hate incidents are wrong, and the perpetrators should face justice. But there can be no freedom when perceived victims’ subjective feelings can bring down the power of the state on citizens. Jokes, comments taken out of context, or simple misunderstandings can easily be conflated with legitimate hate.  The overbroad definition of hate incidents virtually guarantees that people will report frivolous complaints, which could drown real problems. It could also lead to government invasion of privacy for regular law-abiding citizens.

There is also no sense of proportionality here. A dumb comment online is subject to arrest by force because someone’s feelings are hurt? The over-broad definition also means there is likely no consequence for bad faith and frivolous reports. No limiting principle exists to discourage false or careless reports, further damaging the reputation of innocent people and wasting law enforcement time and resources.

England is once again validating the American Revolution. This grotesque power dynamic and attack on personal freedom should be condemned and rejected. Calling on citizens to report one another is unnecessary. Certainly a free people should be able to report crimes to the police, but police encouraging such a low bar for reporting will gin up controversy, suppress free speech and expression, and damage trust between the people.

When people say they want to make America like the rest of the world, keep this in mind. America stands alone in the preservation of individual liberty. Hate speech laws that give false empowerment to illegitimate, self-declared victims have no place in America. England has not only embraced this, but advanced it, and now calls on its citizens to act on it.

Benjamin Dierker is a law student at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University. He holds a master's degree in public administration and a bachelor's degree in economics, both from Texas A&M University. He is a Christian and a Texan and loves to talk about both.