Hate crime or freedom of speech?

As three freshmen kicked out of their fraternity await a ruling from the University of Mississippi’s judicial council, a public debate has arisen as to whether the act of hanging a noose and an old Georgia flag on the James Meredith statue on campus is protected by the First Amendment.

Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity kicked the three out, and the national headquarters has suspended the chapter pending a full investigation of how such members made it through the recruitment process.

The line between free speech and hate speech is blurry in places, according to some legal experts.

“There’ve been volumes written by judges about where that line is, and there’s not a hard and fast line to say, ‘This is protected and this is not,’” said former Supreme Court Justice George Carlson of Batesville.

Last week, officials said there didn’t seem to be a law that would categorize the act as a crime. On Friday, the FBI said it would be taking over the investigation to see if there were any grounds for a federal charge.

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