“Order. Order.”
The gavel banged. Judge Learned Head panned across his courtroom behind spectacles that had grown too small for his round face. He shuffled papers laying before him, then looked at the defendant over the rim of his glasses slipping down his sweaty nose.
“Sir, you are being charged with hate speech by the Department of Justice. How do you plead?”
There was no jury. The Department had learned its lesson after juries began refusing to find their peers guilty.
“Not guilty, your Honor.”
John Cue didn’t answer; his attorney did.
“On what basis?”
“On the basis that my client has not said, written, or typed a single word relative to the topic brought on by the prosecution.”
The prosecution jumped in. The team previously argued and won the SCOTUS case granting the President immunity from the law.
“On June 27th, did the accused not post the phrase ‘Silence is violence.’ on their social media accounts, prior to the murder?”
Cue responded, in a matter of fact tone. “I did, your Honor.”
The prosecution continued.
“After the politically-driven murder, you have not made a single post giving your regards or otherwise noting his death. Why is that? Would you sit here today and offer your regards to his family?”
“No I would not. I was taught growing up that if I don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”
“Your Honor, the prosecution holds that the defendant’s silence is no different than the explicit hate speech we have brought before your court in the past. As hate speech has been criminalized, I look forward to your verdict of guilty.”