More than half of America’s religiously motivated hate crimes target Jews. Unfortunately, nearly all of the antisemitic acts in Florida have gone unpunished. What needs to be done.
It’s no
secret that Florida has a large antisemitism problem. Swastikas graffitied onto
a Holocaust museum, hate symbols projected onto buildings and conspiracy theory
flyers dropped on lawns blaming Jews for the Ukraine War, COVID and everything
else one can imagine. Unfortunately, nearly all of these acts have largely gone
unpunished. Like the rest of the nation, Florida lacks the legal infrastructure
to impose criminal consequences on antisemites.
Thankfully,
that may soon change. The Florida Legislature has put forth House Bill 269,
which would elevate many public displays of antisemitism that have plagued the
state to third-degree felonies, up from their current misdemeanor status.
Offenders could face heavy fines and up to five years in prison.
This
legislation is urgently needed and has support from both the Jewish community
and law enforcement. Police have consistently done what they can to repudiate
antisemitic behavior but have bemoaned their lack of ability to prosecute due
to the free speech protections that bigots grossly exploit.
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-739584
