For much of the 21st century, the Southern Poverty Law Center has been at the center of a bitter partisan war in America over what constitutes hate.
The law center, which is based in Alabama, began in 1971, earning a reputation for battling the Ku Klux Klan in court and helping reporters and law enforcement keep tabs on far-right domestic extremists. More recently, however, the S.P.L.C. has earned the ire of conservatives by criticizing a number of organizations — including Moms For Liberty, the Family Research Council and Turning Point USA — that many on the right consider to be squarely within the American mainstream.
The conflict entered a new phase this week, when the Justice Department charged the S.P.L.C. with a number of financial crimes, including wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The indictment focused on the law center’s past use of paid informants to infiltrate far-right groups. Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, accused the group of “manufacturing racism to justify its existence.”
To some who have been criticized by the S.P.L.C., it was a moment to savor — a potential comeuppance for what they perceive to be a powerful, politically correct bully that has sought to shame and silence legitimate voices.
“Well, I mean, obviously I experienced a certain schadenfreude, because this couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of creeps,” said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a group that supports immigration restrictions and has been on the S.P.L.C.’s influential list of hate groups for years.
The S.P.L.C. defines a hate group as an organization that “has beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics,” according to its website.
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