Enhanced penalties for hate crimes are constitutional. Decided June 11, 1993 (argued April 21, 1993). Opinion of the Court: William Rehnquist → go there Applied: the First Amendment → go there Topic: Freedom of speech and of the press. Wisconsin v. Mitchell, 508 U.S. 476 (1993), was a case in which the United States Supreme Court held that enhanced penalties for hate crimes do not violate criminal defendants' First Amendment rights. It was a landmark precedent pertaining to First Amendment free speech arguments for hate crime legislation. In effect, the Court ruled that a state may consider whether a crime was committed or initially considered due to an intended victim's status in a protected class. Wiki link