How France Handles Hate Speech: Synthetic Institutionalism and Court of Cassation Decisions

France has a long history of adjudicating hate speech decisions. This paper draws on a unique dataset to assess French high court rulings in all cases of racist hate speech between its foundational 1972 law and the end of 2012. It uses a framework of synthetic institutionalism to analyze developments across time, focusing on an explanation of why some types of hate speech are restricted much more frequently than other types.