Words of hate, streets of rage:Reforming the England and Wales stirring up hatred offenses

Brown, Alexander (2025) Words of hate, streets of rage:Reforming the England and Wales stirring up hatred offenses. Tulane Journal of International and Comparative Law, 33 (2). pp. 405-474. ISSN 1069-4455

Preview

PDF (Tulane Brown 2025) - Published Version Download (47MB) | Preview

Abstract

Britain has a long history of individuals using words to provoke enmity between different sections of society and of ensuing riots and other breaches of the peace. Since 1965, Britain has also had statutory offenses relating to the stirring up of hatred on grounds of race and some other protected characteristics, set forth as part of the legislative response to the aforementioned problems. This Article tests the England and Wales stirring up hatred offenses against two First Amendment doctrines. In particular, it investigates the prospects for mitigating the viewpoint discrimination manifest in these laws and whether such mitigations could render the laws overbroad. It also examines the problems of courts applying an ordinary meaning approach to the phrase “stir up.” In addition, it seeks to make sense of the current sentencing guidelines for the stirring up hatred offenses having to do with the aggravating factors of speakers holding “positions of trust, authority, or influence” and audiences being “vulnerable/impressionable.” Plotting a pathway through these issues, the Article makes an appeal not simply to public order considerations but also to the value of substantive rather than formal autonomy. The goal of protecting substantive autonomy implies that one person’s choice of words or behavior should not diminish the autonomy of another person, such as by circumventing or curtailing their independent, rational deliberations. In a giant leap forward for law in this area, this Article recommends a series of significant reforms to the England and Wales stirring up hatred offenses.

Item Type:	Article
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of Politics, Philosophy and Area Studies
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Policy & Politics Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Political, Social and International Studies
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	22 Aug 2025 14:30
Last Modified:	22 Aug 2025 14:30
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/100220
DOI:	issn:1069-4455

Downloads

Actions (login required)

View Item