Wisconsin v. Mitchell Decision

The Wisconsin v. Mitchell Decision:
The United States Supreme Court reversed. They ruled that the First Amendment free speech rights of the accused party were not violated by application of the penalty-enhancement statue because: 1) motive played the same role under the penalty-enhancement statue as it did under federal and state anti discrimination laws, which the Supreme Court had upheld; 2) the statue was aimed at conduct unprotected by the First Amendment; 3) the state's desire to redress individual and social harm provided an adequate explanation for penalty-enhancement and went beyond mere disagreement with the offenders beliefs; 4) the prospect of someone suppressing their beliefs for fear that speaking them could be used in evidence against them if they committed a serious criminal offense was too speculative an hypothesis to support a claim that the statue chilled free speech; 5) the First Amendment did not prohibit the evidentiary use of speech to establish the elements of a crime to prove motive or intent.

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