7 years ago
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Louisiana’s ‘Blue Lives Matter’ bill just became law
Louisana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) signed the “Blue Lives Matter” bill into law Thursday, making the state the first in the nation where public safety workers are considered a protected class under hate-crime law. In many states, hate crime laws call for additional penalties for those convicted of crimes who targeted victims on the basis of race, ethnicity or religion. Targeting police officers, firefighters and emergency medical service personnel now fall under Louisiana’s hate crime law.
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OK, this may sound like a good thing, but what we're talking about here is giving people special protection not on the basis of their race, religion, sexual orientation, or national origin, but because of their job. All of the former are not the result of a choice (you could make an argument for religion, but usually religion is very strongly imposed on you by your culture and upbringing in a way that makes it very hard to shake off).
Jobs come with benefits and risks, and all of these are no exception. Should I have special protection from the law if an enraged student kills me because I gave him a bad grade? If you become a cop, you know what you're getting yourself into. You can choose any other job if you feel it puts you at an unacceptable risk.