Avowed anti- Semite elicits Jewish support in legal battle

WASHINGTON, Feb. 18 (JTA) — An avowed white supremacist has found some unlikely Jewish supporters as he wages a battle to gain a license to practice law. An Illinois state panel that evaluates the “character and fitness” of prospective attorneys has denied a license to Matthew Hale, the leader of the World Church of the Creator — an overtly racist and anti-Semitic group that advocates a racial holy war. A decision supported by two of the panel’s three members said Hale is “free, as the First Amendment allows, to incite as much racial hatred as he desires and to attempt to carry out his life’s mission of depriving those he dislikes of their legal rights. But in our view he cannot do this as an officer of the court.” Hale, 27, an unabashed anti-Semite who works out of a home office in East Peoria, Ill., where an Israeli flag serves as a doormat and swastikas adorn the walls, has completed law school and passed the bar exam. As he attempts to overturn the ruling at a higher-level state committee, the decision has generated controversy among free speech advocates. Some legal experts remain deeply troubled by the notion of denying rights based on a person’s views. The Anti-Defamation League, while calling Hale’s views “abhorrent,” said that denying him a law license “sets a dangerous precedent.” “At another time, in another place,” the ADL said in a statement, “we could envision a circumstance in which another Committee on Character and Fitness could follow this lead to reject a candidate because that candidate has expressed support for abortion, opposition to school prayer or other moral views contrary to the majority of his or her community.” Allowing the decision to stand could create a “very slippery slope,” the ADL said. Hale, meanwhile, has attempted to enlist the help of Alan Dershowitz, a prominent Jewish attorney. Dershowitz, who was not immediately available for comment, told the Associated Press he was considering taking the case. “Character committees should not become thought police,” Dershowitz said. “It’s not the content of the thoughts I’m defending, it’s the freedom of everybody to express their views and to become lawyers.” Dershowitz said before taking the case he would make sure Hale was not responsible for encouraging or tacitly supporting violence, and said he would contribute all his fees from the case to non-profit organizations that fight racism. For some Jewish legal experts, the issue presents a murkier legal quandary. Marc Stern, co-director of the American Jewish Congress’ legal department, said the idea that First Amendment considerations should trump all other considerations in Hale’s case “remains a hard question.” But, he said, “this sort of very unusual, hard-core racism does at least call for a searching inquiry into a person’s fitness to serve as an officer of the court.” As a result of the attention brought to his case, Hale has appeared on a number of nationally televised shows. In a telephone interview with JTA, he said the attention was “helping my cause greatly.” “If the intent of the inquiry panel was to stymie my efforts, they did the exact opposite,” he said. Asked what he thought of having Jewish support, Hale, who freely admits he is an anti-Semite, said both the ADL and Dershowitz “realize that if I am denied my law license today, potentially a Jew might be denied their law license tomorrow, and other people for that matter.” He said the fact that Dershowitz is Jewish does not bother him, noting that Dershowitz is a skilled lawyer who, as a Jew, might be able to make a better case in defense of his rights. The World Church of the Creator, founded in 1973 in Florida, has experienced a resurgence in recent years under Hale’s leadership. The group’s Web site, which Hale runs, demonizes blacks and Jews and calls for a “racial holy war” against all “mud races” that threaten the survival of the “white race.” The site proclaims that Hitler had the right idea, but should have promoted the supremacy of all whites, rather than just Germans. Four members of the group were indicted last year on hate-crime charges after holding up a video store in Miami, allegedly acting on the belief that all media outlets are controlled by Jews. Another member murdered a black sailor returning from the Persian Gulf War in Florida in 1991 and is now serving a life sentence. Hale has been arrested numerous times on minor charges for activities like burning an Israeli flag, but there is no evidence he has engaged in or encouraged violent activities. In light of that, the ADL said it agreed with the one dissenter on the Illinois panel, who wrote, “Time will tell if Matthew Hale can in fact practice law in accordance with his oath while holding extreme views.”