Georgia court throws out state's hate crimes law

The state Supreme Court tossed out Georgia's hate crimes law Monday, meaning state lawmakers will have to revisit a roiling debate that divided them deeply four years ago.

The law barely passed the Legislature in 2000 after bitter arguments about whether some crimes are worse than others when bigotry is in the heart of the accused. It passed only after protections for gay people were removed and the law rewritten to vaguely refer to "bias or prejudice." Of the 48 states with hate-crimes laws, Georgia's was the only one not to specify who would be protected. (source)