Feds invoked Commerce Clause to make 'hate crimes' case

Feuer Frei! · 04-15-13, 07:46 AM

Quote:

What does the federal hate crimes law inspired by the murders of Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. have to do with an internal dispute among the Amish in which the beards of men and the hair of women were forcibly sheared?
“The scissors used to cut the hair were manufactured in one state and used in another,” explained Edward Bryan, defense lawyer for Amish bishop Samuel Mullet Sr., who was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison.

SOURCE

GoldenRivet · 04-15-13, 07:58 AM

So let me get this straight...

an amish man, cuts the beard of another amish man, thats a hate crime?

and ... ummm...

you know what?

never freakin mind

04-15-13, 08:46 AM

So they didn't invoke the commerce clause to make the hate crime case.
The commerce clause only deals with obtaining the tools which they intended to commit their crimes with, and hiring a driver and vehicle to transport the criminals across state lines to commit their crimes.

August · 04-15-13, 08:54 AM

Anyone else see the irony in the technology eschewing Amish attackers using battery operated scissors to commit their crime?

flatsixes · 04-15-13, 09:26 AM

I agree with Tribesman. One of the threshold conditions of a federal hate crime (18 USC 249) is that the defendant(s) alleged conduct results (how ever marginally) from an action or instrument involving interstate commerce. Otherwise, the feds have no basis for extending their jurisdiction to a state criminal matter.

To be sure, the Commerce Clause is mightily abused, both by the feds, and by private parties against state governments (I've done my share of CC cases), but this action isn't a Commerce Clause matter, and the author of the article only had to read as far as page two to figure that out.

Wolferz · 04-15-13, 12:18 PM

They probably invoked the RICO statute too. Amish mafia ya know?

04-15-13, 07:58 AM	#2
GoldenRivet Subsim Aviator Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 8,726 Downloads: 146 Uploads: 0	So let me get this straight... an amish man, cuts the beard of another amish man, thats a hate crime? and ... ummm... you know what? never freakin mind __________________

04-15-13, 08:54 AM	#4
August Wayfaring Stranger Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 23,197 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Anyone else see the irony in the technology eschewing Amish attackers using battery operated scissors to commit their crime? __________________ Flanked by life and the funeral pyre. Putting on a show for you to see.

04-15-13, 12:18 PM	#6
Wolferz Navy Seal Join Date: May 2007 Location: On a mighty quest for the Stick of Truth Posts: 5,963 Downloads: 52 Uploads: 0	They probably invoked the RICO statute too. Amish mafia ya know? __________________ Tomorrow never comes

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04-15-13, 08:46 AM	#3
Tribesman Stowaway Posts: n/a Downloads: Uploads:	So they didn't invoke the commerce clause to make the hate crime case. The commerce clause only deals with obtaining the tools which they intended to commit their crimes with, and hiring a driver and vehicle to transport the criminals across state lines to commit their crimes.

04-15-13, 09:26 AM	#5
flatsixes Weps Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Virginia Posts: 362 Downloads: 8 Uploads: 0	I agree with Tribesman. One of the threshold conditions of a federal hate crime (18 USC 249) is that the defendant(s) alleged conduct results (how ever marginally) from an action or instrument involving interstate commerce. Otherwise, the feds have no basis for extending their jurisdiction to a state criminal matter. To be sure, the Commerce Clause is mightily abused, both by the feds, and by private parties against state governments (I've done my share of CC cases), but this action isn't a Commerce Clause matter, and the author of the article only had to read as far as page two to figure that out.