I understand the rationale for a federal law. It's a fact that many lynchings were attended by members of local law enforcement. And during the Jim Crow days, if someone connected to the good old boy network was caught perpetrating some harm against blacks, the local justice system did not exercise the necessary zeal in pursuing an arrest, much less a trial and aggressive prosecution. Even in modern times, that is still the case. I've seen that shit first hand.
So I get it. I really do.
The Deep South had its chance to correct its ways, and they chose to double down on their sins instead. They forced the federal government's hand. And so it took a shit ton of federal laws to force them to get in line. Were those federal laws to be repealed today, I have little doubt large swathes of the Deep South would quickly return to the bad old days of Jim Crow, and we would even see new lynchings.
With a federal lynching law on the books, if local law enforcement doesn't do its duty, then the feds get a crack at the criminals. But any time you circumvent the constitutional protection against double jeopardy, you create hazards. We need to ask ourselves when enough is enough.
I think the federal government, especially its policing and enforcement powers, have expanded way, way, way beyond their proper scope. And this is why I oppose yet another expansion of its powers, especially since it is unnecessary.