Wisconsin v. Mitchell

Mitchell (defendant), after watching a film depicting a white man beating a black boy, asked his friends if they felt 'hyped up to move on some white people' and then led a group in beating a white teenager; he was convicted of aggravated battery, and his sentence was enhanced under Wisconsin's hate-crimes statute, which increased penalties for defendants who selected their victims based on race. Mitchell argued the statute unconstitutionally punished his motive and protected speech.

Whether a state statute that enhances penalties for defendants who choose victims based on their membership in a protected class, such as race, violates the First Amendment's Free Speech Clause.