Description
Signed by Chief Justice William Rehnquist, the 1993 Supreme Court opinion in Wisconsin v. Mitchell, which unanimously upheld Wisconsin’s hate-crime sentence enhancement law.
Octavo, 12pp. Printed wraps. This slip opinion was issued for the convenience of the reader. The case was argued on April 21, 1993, and decided on June 11, 1993.
The majority decision was written by Chief Justice Rehnquist and signed by him on the front cover.
In Wisconsin v. Mitchell (No 92-515), the Supreme Court unanimously upheld Wisconsin’s hate-crime sentence enhancement law. Todd Mitchell had been convicted of aggravated battery after selecting his victim because of race. Wisconsin increased his sentence under a statute covering bias-motivated crimes. Mitchell argued that the law punished thought and violated the First Amendment. The Court held that Wisconsin punished criminal conduct, not protected speech. The decision became a leading case supporting hate-crime penalty enhancement statutes.
