Sticks and Stones May Break my Bones, But Words May Also Hurt Me: A Comparison of United States and German Hate Speech Laws
Deborah A. Levine · FLASH - Fordham Law Archive of Scholarship & History (Fordham University) · 2018
The meaning of hate speech and dignity are critical for this Note.6 Hate speech is generally defined as speech that expresses hate for a specific group.7 Merriam-Webster defines hate speech as "speech expressing hatred of a particular group of people."8 Black's Law 9 takes a narrower focus on hate speech and defines it as "speech that carries no meaning other than the expression of hatred for some group, such as a particular race, especially in circumstances in which the communication is likely to provoke violence."10 The Black's Law definition is endorsed by US case law on this topic.11 Scholars do not agree on one set definition of hate speech.Some scholars define hate speech as speech that includes epithets, historical revisionism, or discrimination or violence against religious, racial, ethnic, and other 6.The importance of establishing what dignity is lies in the German reliance on the concept of dignity when drafting its hate speech laws.See, e.g.Strafgesetzbuch [StGB] [Penal Code], § 130, translation at https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_stgb/englisch_stgb.html#p0877 [https://perma.cc/U9XX-KJ5K](Ger.).The United States, however, values liberty over dignity.