Hanging it up

Hanging it up

Remember that game you played in study hall to pass the time, the one called Hangman? Your opponent thinks of a word or words and you guess the letters. Guess wrong and your foe starts building a scaffold; guess enough letters wrong and he hangs a man from the scaffold. In Connecticut and New York  —  and no doubt coming soon to other states  — displaying a noose is a crime if you’re deemed guilty of doing so to intimidate or harass “targeted people,” according to State Legislatures magazine. In New York, playing Hangman is now actionable  —  it’s a crime to even draw a noose, much less hang a rope fashioned into a noose. Hate crime laws are expanding to include pictures, in response to racial sensitivities regarding lynching. We’re not sure if playing Hangman on line in New York will be a crime.

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