Thought Crimes. This bill (H.R. 1955), known as the \”Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007,\” could more aptly be titled the \”Thought Crimes Act.\” The bill would establish a National Commission on the Prevention of Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism and establish a grant program to prevent radicalization in the United States. However, critics charge that the bill is a thinly disguised attempt to criminalize dissent, based on the bill\’s vague and open-ended language that could be used to trample basic rights to free speech and assembly, and turn legitimate dissent into thought crimes. For instance, the bill defines \”violent radicalization\” as \”the process of adopting or promoting an extremist belief system for the purpose of facilitating ideologically based violence to advance political, religious, or social change.\” The bill does not define either \”extremist belief system\” or \”facilitating ideologically based violence.\” The bill also states that \”the Internet has aided in facilitating violent radicalization, ideologically based violence, and the homegrown terrorism process in the United States by providing access to broad and constant streams of terrorist-related propaganda to United States citizens.\”
The House passed H.R. 1955 by a vote of 404-6 (Roll Call 993) on October 23, 2007. We have assigned pluses to the nays because the bill threatens legitimate dissent.
