13 year old brought up on charges of hate speech

[Preacher]

13-year-old petitioned into juvenile court after racially-charged chat
Ah the good ole USA! Free speech ain't so free anymore. Twist it and turn it however you want the "law" they are charging this kid with is unconstitutional and merely is used to crack down on speech.

 

[PaintMyHouse]

"From the Office of Prosecuting Attorney Michael J. Sepic:

Parents and school officials became aware of a group of 7 students from Upton Middle School who were involved in a private chat group during after school hours on Kik, a messaging application accessed on smartphones. The seven students were making loathsome and despicable racial comments amongst themselves. The First Amendment to the United State Constitution protects such speech. There are some situations, however, the legislature can address related to speech, particularly when the speech is associated with some other activity or conduct.

For instance, the criminal offense of Ethnic Intimidation, a two year felony, is implicated if a person intends to intimidate or harass another due to their race (or color, religion, gender, or national origin) and physical contact or property damage results; or, if there are threats to do physical contact or property damage and there is reasonable cause to believe physical contact or property damage will occur.

The investigation in this case by the city of St. Joseph Police Department revealed there was no evidence that the content of the messaging, nor the individuals involved, would meet the requirements of believing some act of physical contact or property damage would occur.

Additionally, the criminal offense of Malicious Use of a Telecommunications System, a six month misdemeanor, prohibits one from using electronic communications to intimidate or harass another. While the seven parties to the Kik conversation, all of whom are white males, can speak as they see fit amongst themselves, one of the 7 participants brought into the Kik conversation an individual, a fellow student who is black, knowing he would be subjected to the previous loathsome and despicable racial conversation."