"Hang the bankers" said the protest sign at the G20 meetings in London last week.
"Kill the umpire" is said to be heard at some baseball games.
"Hate all ….[fill in the blank with whites, blacks, reds, yellows, Christians, Muslims Jews]" and you will be in serious trouble with the law.
The first 2, taken at face value, incite and advocate an illegal act.
The third one does not advocate an illegal act since hate is not illegal.
These three examples suggest an interesting test for free speech.
Speech that advocates an illegal act goes beyond the protection of free speech.
I am firmly against hanging, killing, and hate. If our society wishes to inhibit incitements to hate then they should make hate illegal. Of course that would be so impossible to enforce that it will not happen.
But now how do we deal with protests against a law that is viewed as immoral?
"Kill the bill" would not be viewed as advocating an illegal act and so would remain as valid free speech.
Update February 6 2010
An item from the February 4 2010 The Roanoke Times"A federal judge today dismissed one of four charges that neo-Nazi leader William A. White was convicted of in December.
"'The court finds that there is no substantial evidence which would permit any rational trier of fact to find the defendant guilty,' U.S. District Judge James Turk wrote in an opinion.
"The jury verdict dismissed by Turk alleged that White had threatened Richard Warman, a human rights attorney from Canada who often brings civil actions against white supremacists.
"White, the self-proclaimed commander of the Roanoke-based American National Socialist Workers Party, wrote on his Web site that Warman should be killed. "
There it is advocating an illegal act and it is not a violation of free speech.
