Should hate speech be protected under first ammendment??

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. The First Amendment protects all speech that isn't defamatory,

pornographic, or that directly incites violence. The problem with regulating or prohibiting hate speech is defining it. A lot of it is obvious (racial slurs, etc.), but there are some statements that are subject to interpretation, and might be categorized as hate speech by one court or administration and not by another. The law needs certainty and the definition of hate speech can't depend on the political slant of whoever is making the decision.

It would be absolutely unconstitutional to list "unpunished" (non-criminal) hate speech on a person's criminal record, because if it isn't defined as a crime it shouldn't be on a person's criminal record. That's effectively treating something as a crime, but without due process.

As far as having some sort of record for employers to review, a lot of people are doing it to themselves by posting racist or other hateful comments on their own Facebook pages or Twitter feeds or elsewhere on social media. The consequences of that are their own problem.