President Obama last week signed into law "hate crime" legislation that adds sexual orientation to other protected categories including race, color, religion and national origin.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 49% of Americans feel criminals should be prosecuted more severely if it can be proved that their crime was motivated by the victim’s race, color, religion, national origin or sexual orientation. Thirty-one percent (31%) disagree, and 19% are not sure.

But most Americans (56%) also say the United States should not ban “hate speech,” which is defined as verbal abuse aimed at the same demographic protected by hate crime legislation. Twenty-three percent (23%) of adults favor a ban on hate speech. Twenty-one percent (21%) are not sure.

In a June 2008 survey, 88% of voters said, generally speaking, free speech is good for the United States.

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An overwhelming majority (73%) of Americans believe it is better to allow free speech without government interference over letting government decide what types of hate speech should be banned. Just 12% prefer letting the government determine what speech should be banned, and 16% are undecided.

Seventy-nine percent (79%) say giving people the right to free speech is more important than making sure no one is offended by what others say. Twelve percent (12%) feel making sure no one is offended takes precedent over freedom of speech.

Women support prosecution of hate crimes more than men. Younger voters favor them much more strongly than their elders. Women and younger voters also tend to be less supportive of free speech and more in favor of banning hate speech.

Sixty-two percent (62%) of Democrats feel criminals should be prosecuted more severely for hate crimes. Republicans and voters not affiliated with either major party are almost evenly divided on the question.

Nearly two-thirds of both Republicans and unaffiliateds oppose a ban on hate speech. A plurality of Democrats agrees but by just 13 points.

Sixty percent (60%) of voters now say U.S. society is generally fair and decent, but that's down nine points since late August and the lowest measure since President Obama took office in January.

A majority of voters (62%) have been closely following recent news reports about hate crime laws very or somewhat closely. Only 12% say they haven't been following those stories at all.

A majority of American adults said in a June 2007 survey that protecting children from indecency is more important than freedom of speech.

This past summer, 50% of Americans said hate is growing in America in the wake of the murders of a doctor who performed late-term abortions and a military recruiter and a shooting incident at the U.S. Holocaust Museum in which a guard was killed. Thirty-five percent (35%) disagreed, saying they were isolated incidents.

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