Washington - After showing off his swastika tattoo, Randy Metcalf became involved in a barroom brawl. One of his opponents was an African-American, who he and his friends knocked unconscious. Metcalf repeatedly kicked him in the head and, according to a witness, said, “Die, [N-word], die.” Metcalf was sentenced to 10 years in prison under the federal Hate Crimes Prevention Act that was enacted six years earlier, in 2009.
Soon, perhaps at its conference this Friday, the Supreme Court will decide whether or not to hear Metcalf's argument that the provision of the HCPA that he was convicted under is unconstitutional because none of the Constitution's enumerated powers authorized Congress to enact it.