It should go without saying that anti-Muslim Dutch Member of Parliament Geert Wilders‘ acquittal on charges of hate speech don’t vindicate the content of his remarks. While Wilders view on Islam are abhorrent, the laws under which he was being prosecuted are a far bigger travesty. As Justice Louis Brandeis wrote, “the fitting remedy for evil counsels is good ones,” not government deciding which ones are evil and which ones are good.

Adam Serwer is a writing fellow at The American Prospect and a graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He also blogs at Jack and Jill Politics and has written for The Village Voice, The Washington Post, The Root, and the Daily News. Follow @adamserwer