Ahh how I indeed love "knee jerk" reactions to things going on in the news. With the recent "Jena 6" case, lawmakers in New York are trying to make it a crime to display a noose.
What's worse, is that I expect this kind of behavior from a Democrat, but it's coming from Republican Dean Skelos.
Mr. Skelos has GOT to know that this won't stand up in court. It's got freedom of speech issues written all over it. And Democrats should denounce this bill as well. They seem to support flag burning, so they shouldn't have a problem with a hangman's noose.
The bottom line is that this is simply a "feel good" attempt to make voters think you're actually doing something. What will end up happening is that the ACLU will sue, the NY tax payers will have to pay for an attorney to defend against the lawsuit, and a Federal judge will throw it out.
With such blatant attempts to put a law onto the books that's clearly unconstitutional, lawmakers should partially foot the bill for the eventual lawsuit.
That would prevent lawmakers from passing ridiculous laws that they know won't pass muster. I'm not saying that every law that gets struck down is passed onto the lawmaker, however, there should be some kind of penalty for frivolous laws being passed.
Travis
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