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Originally Posted by MaggieL
This is why we have laws that define "discrimination"....so it's not up to the whims of "any person". I'm no more interested in "promoting racism", than I am in "promoting homophobia". But trying to create laws to punish people for their thoughts or beliefs isn't a smart way fight either racism or homophobia. And it opens the door to an incredible range of abuses that won't be good for anybody.
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OK...for one thing, unless the process of becomming a police officer is much different in the US than it is here, there's a huge number of people involved in employing each new recruit, so it would certainly be far from the 'whims of any person' to exclude or include any one person during the process.
One further comment. I don't know what you really feel about this situation because you've not shared with us why you think the way you do, but even if your view is 'constitutional', I would never agree that it's ok for a police officer to be an active officer and be a member of a hate group at the same time. It takes something very special to be a cop, and someone who can believe that it's ok to feel superior to another whole race doesn't have that special thing that you need to have to be a cop.
To add to that, the state has a responsibility to act in the best interests of all citizens. How can the state be acting in the best interests of all citizens if it allows some of its citizens to be put in a position where they are open to victimization?