Are racial slurs illegal?

[Takket]

In lieu of what happened to Adam Jones...

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/boston-red-sox-adam-jones-racist-fenway-park-baltimore-orioles-ken-rosenthal-050217

Can people who use racial slurs like that be charged with a crime? Is there a law against that as hate speech?

Can Jones sue them for harassment?

[LexVegas]

1. No. nt

[Eliot Rosewater]

2. Jones is a hero.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. No, not unless they fall under the category of hate speech, which

is generally considered to be speech that raises "imminent danger of unlawful action, where the speaker has the intention to incite such action and there is the likelihood that this will be the consequence of his or her speech." There are some sticky First Amendment issues, so most of the time using racial slurs isn't illegal unless accompanied by threats, property damage, etc. However, Fenway is entirely within its rights to ban people who use racial slurs.

[marybourg]

4. I believe there is some sort of hate speech law in N.Y.,

but someone more knowledgeable may correct me.

[RedWedge]

5. No, but the stadium can hold them to a code of conduct.

[radius777]

13. Exactly, it's a private business, and they can

and should maintain an environment that is free of racial (or other) harassment.

Just because someone pays for a ticket, does not entitle them to abuse whomever they choose.

This problem has gotten completly out of control, especially in the day and age of the internet, where any fool can find out personal details about a player's life, then verbally abuse them.

This is not the 'normal fan heckling' that in the past was generic, that we expect players to deal with, but much more vicious and personal.

[NutmegYankee]

6. No. It's covered by the First Amendment.

That said, the private owners of the venue can kick you out for violating their code of conduct.

[PJMcK]

7. Who cares?

Actions speak louder than words. The combination of hateful speech with hateful actions puts one in jeopardy of the laws.

[GulfCoast66]

8. No, of course not

But it can be grounds for eviction from private property.

[WinkyDink]

9. No. See: The 1st Amendment. But that refers to govt and crime, not private business.

[jberryhill]

10. No

And the commentary upthread about "hate speech" is wrong as a matter of US law. Yes, in the context of entirely other crimes, such speech might be used, but the slur per se is not the crime at hand.

If your speech violates the rules of your invitation to be on private property, you may be removed. If you refuse, then you can become a criminal trespasser.

On public property, use of such slurs might be chargeable as misdemeanor "disorderly conduct", which tends to be a catch all for "acting like an extreme jackass in public".

But the accompanying conduct is generally what is going to be relevant.

[applegrove]

11. And any and all kids who witnessed it.

[bathroommonkey76]

12. This type of behavior has been going for a long time in Boston

I've witnessed similar scenes at Fenway before- Once in the late 90s during a Red Sox vs Yankees series and another time in 2007 during an Orioles series, I'd say drinking contributed in those cases. Both instances I mentioned had a handful of fans shouting the n-word at opposing players. I've also seen this type of stuff happen at Camden Yards and Turner Field.