(FeaturedNews.com) – A recent vote on an anti-lynching bill may raise questions about the three dissenting voters. After all, who wouldn’t be against lynching? But one of them makes some good points when explaining his vote.
The US House of Representatives’ 422 to 3 vote on February 28 passed the Emmett Till Antilynching Act with overwhelming bipartisan approval. The act allows prosecutors to pursue any hate crime resulting in injuries or death from lynching. The three members who voted against it were all Republicans, Representatives Andrew Clyde (GA), Thomas Massie (KY), and Chip Roy (TX).
Trio of Republicans Vote Against Anti-Lynching Bill That Passes 422-3 https://t.co/Mkq4rhi9Tb
— MSN (@MSN) March 1, 2022
Massie explained his vote in a series of tweets the same day. He gave four well-thought-out reasons. First, he explained that Congress has no authority under the Constitution to create this law.
Here are the reasons I voted NO on the Anti-lynching Act last Congress and why I voted NO tonight:
(1) The Constitution specifies only a handful of federal crimes, and leaves the rest to individual states to prosecute.
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) March 1, 2022
He then stated he feels it adds to hate crime laws in a way that could endanger free speech and that all states already have laws making lynching a crime, so there is no need for this one. Finally, he explained the bill also created a conspiracy crime, which he feels opens the door to potential misuse by federal agencies.
While some opponents of the libertarian-leaning Republican may see his stance as pro-lynching, that is clearly not the case. Massie seems to have given this vote a lot of consideration before making his final decision.
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