Sporer discusses hate group prosecution with News Center Maine

Karyn Sporer, associate professor of sociology at the University of Maine, spoke with News Center Maine for a story about the civil rights charges against the ring leaders of neo-Nazi organization NSC-131 being dismissed in court. According to Sporer, since many cases involving the actions of hate groups are decided by the First Amendment, prosecutors need a large amount of evidence to back up their charges. “Prosecutors have to walk a fine line and have a lot of evidence when it comes to free speech to ultimately using violence. And it just doesn’t sound like they had anything remotely close to that with this group of guys,” Sporer said.