The Florida Legislature drafted and passed a hate crime law in 1989. It enhances a criminal offense when the commission of the crime "evidences prejudice." For the statute to apply, a defendant must commit an underlying criminal act. If the commission of the criminal act evidences prejudice, the hate crime statute is invoked and the statute's enhancement scheme increases the level of the crime one degree higher than mandated in the Florida Criminal Code. This commentary argues that the criminalizing of a person's motive for committing a crime creates a "thought" crime," which in effect punishes an actor's underlying thoughts, reasons, and opinions. Since Florida's hate crime law only adds enhanced punishment to existing crimes based on the actor's motivation, the statute is an unconstitutional infringement of freedom of thought and opinion under the first amendment. If a society deems certain thoughts, viewpoints, and motivations to be unacceptable to its normative value system, the appropriate response is to mount educational campaigns that promote socially acceptable values. It is unconstitutional to enact laws designed to punish people for their thoughts or motivations. 199 footnotes