Can’t Words Hurt as Much as Sticks and Stones?

nick cowen, 9 May 2012

By David Conway

Only actions, not words, can break bones. People can, however, be just as badly damaged by hateful things said about them. So why should not the criminal law be made to protect people as much from malicious words as from physical assault?

I raise this question in light of a common reaction that I have discerned among several North American commentators to news of the recent acquittal by the Danish Supreme Court on hate crime charges of free-speech campaigner Lars Hedegaard.

Read the rest at the Library of Law and Liberty Blog