Last week in the United Kingdom, Home Secretary and former Justice Minister Shabana Mahmood announced the abolition of “non-crime hate incidents” and told police to “focus on their day jobs.” The decision followed public outrage after Essex police paid a Sunday visit to a journalist’s home to “check the accuracy” of a social media post critical of the Metropolitan Police. It was a moment of belated clarity: a legal regime that authorizes police intervention in the absence of any crime is incompatible with a free society.
