U.S. Attorney General adjusts position on anti-Muslim speech

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch warned last week that her department would act against those who expressed anti-Muslim statements that “edge towards violence.” She was attempting to address the uptick in violence against Muslims since the Paris terrorist attack. (BuzzFeed, December 3, 2015, by John Stanton)

Critics were quick to point out that anti-Muslim speech could only run afoul of the law in instances that the speech incited “imminent crime, such as a speech to an angry mob outside a mosque urging it to storm the building.”  (The Washington Post, December 4, 2015, by Eugene Volokh)

Lynch was also quick to restate her position assuring the nation that the Justice Department would “prosecute deeds and not words.” (Politico, December 7, 2015, by Josh Gerstein)