The U.S. Supreme Court successfully traversed a legal tightrope when it upheld a Virginia law that bans cross-burning, balancing issues of threats and intimidation against rights of free speech. In a 6-3 decision, the justices ruled that states can make cross-burning illegal when it is done in a deliberately intimidating manner. This was a dicey issue, falling between the clearly defined areas of free speech and hate speech. The ruling is as much a victory for First Amendment advocates as it is for anti-hate groups.
In the case, Virginia v. Black, two defendants were found guilty of intimidating a neighbor after they burned a cross in his yard. The Virginia Supreme Court overturned the ruling in 1991, on the grounds that the First Amendment protects cross burning as a form of expression. But with its unmistakable and infamous history -
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