Several state legislatures have reacted to recent riots — both pre- and post-election — by enacting new, harsher laws under which rioters can be prosecuted. Not all of these were bad ideas — rioting is a real crime and deserves to be punished severely.

But Republicans in the Arizona Senate received much criticism when it passed a bill that actually would allow the organizers of nearly any event to be tried under the state’s Racketeering, Influence and Corrupt Organizations statute if their event gave way to rioting.