Am I the only one who is a little uneasy with this

I have never been a fan of hate crime legislation and the related legal entanglements is gets us to. After all your setting certain classes of people (blacks, gays, etc) as separate under the law than others. If anyone wants to challenge me on that fact I will simply ask when was hate crime statures used to prosecute black people going after white people in Wisconsin. Or any other incident when the suspect, a minority (black, Hispanic, etc) assaulted a Caucasian? Or Civil Rights statues used to prosecute the Black Panthers for trying to stop whites from voting in 08. As Orwell said, "Some pigs are more equal than others."

With that as background here is something from overseas that I pray doesn't come here anytime soon.

Court convicts Galliano in anti-Semitism case


PARIS (AP) — A Paris court convicted former Christian Dior designer John Galliano on Thursday of making anti-Semitic insults in a bar but gave him only a suspended sentence, taking into account his apology to the victims.


Galliano, who didn't attend the announcement of the verdict, was given no prison time. He was given a suspended €6,000 ($8,400) fine, which means it goes on his criminal record but he does not have to pay it.


He was, however, ordered to pay €16,500 ($23,200)in court fees for the complainants — three individuals and five anti-racism associations — plus a symbolic €1 ($1.40) in damages to each one.


The Paris court found him guilty of "public insults based on origin, religious affiliation, race or ethnicity" stemming from two separate incidents at a Paris bar.


The accusations earlier this year cost Galliano his job at the luxury house and roiled the fashion world...


...The judge said the court found Galliano had "sufficient awareness of his act despite his addiction and his fragile state." But the court also took into account that he apologized to the plaintiffs during the June trial and noted the "values of tolerance" in his work.


His lawyer, Aurelien Hamelle, called it "a really strong sign from the court."...

Yes Mr Hamelle, it is. Of insanity.

...After 15 critically acclaimed and commercially successful years at Dior, the flamboyant Briton's brilliant career flamed out after a couple alleged he accosted them while they were having a drink at Paris' hip La Perle cafe on Feb. 24.

Another woman soon came forward with similar claims about a separate incident in the same cafe. Days later, the British tabloid The Sun posted a video showing a visibly drunk Galliano insulting a fellow cafe client, slurring: "I love Hitler."...

...Galliano — a 50-year-old who was born Juan Carlos Galliano to a Spanish mother in the British Iberian enclave of Gibraltar — rejected any suggestion he was fundamentally racist, saying his multi-cultural-infused work spoke for itself...

Centuries ago we had to swear to believe what the church said about the Sun revolving around the Earth and if you spoke out differently you could face an Inquisition. God forbid you be a Jew. But now you must offend other protected classes. Has the West evolved to a point where a drunken idiot says "I love Hitler" and may face jail time yet there is a movement to get rid of the stigma of Pedophilia?

I'm don't particularly care for what this idiot said but it is only words. Words. And we have been moving to the Orwellian society with Thought Crimes for some time. If you want classic examples say something nice about Christopher Columbus on a college campus.

Disturbing.