Wisconsin v. Mitchell

Facts

A group of young black men, including Mitchell, were at an apartment complex together. They discussed a movie scene in which a white man beat a young black boy who was praying. Mitchell asked the group: “Do you all feel hyped up to move on some white people?” The group shortly thereafter saw a young white boy on the opposite side of the street. Mitchell said: “You all want to fuck somebody up? There goes a white boy; go get him.” The group proceeded to beat the boy severely (he was in a coma for four days) and stole his tennis shoes.

After a jury trial, Mitchell was convicted of aggravated battery. That offense carries a two year maximum sentence. However, Mitchell was sentenced to four years imprisonment due to the jury having found that Mitchell had intentionally selected his victim because of the boy’s race. This allowed Mitchell’s sentence to be enhanced on the grounds of the underlying offense being a hate crime.

Mitchell appealed his conviction and sentence, challenging the constitutionality of Wisconsin’s penalty-enhancement provision on First Amendment grounds. The Wisconsin Court of Appeals rejected this argument, but the Supreme Court of Wisconsin reversed. The Supreme Court of Wisconsin held that the statute violates the First Amendment by punishing offensive thought.