Matthew Hale, head of the unabashedly white supremacist World Church of the Creator, recently graduated from the Southern Illinois University Law School and passed the state bar exam.

But two of three members of a state committee that evaluates the character and fitness of prospective lawyers ruled that his application for a law license should be rejected.

``Under any civilized standards of decency, the incitement of racial hatred for the ultimate purpose of depriving selected groups of their legal rights shows a gross deficiency in moral character, particularly for lawyers who have a special responsibility to uphold the rule of law of all persons,'' they said.

Hale, a 27-year-old man from East Peoria, Illinois, has vowed to appeal the ruling and prominent Harvard University law professor AlanDershowitz has indicated he may defend the notorious anti-Semite, who reportedly uses an Israeli flag as a door mat and rants about alleged Jewish control of the US media.

Among the first to spring to his defense was the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish group that has been monitoring Hale's activities for a decade.

Richard Hirshaut, a regional representative of the League, conceded that the case was "painful and causes us great agony" but he added, "We view our job... as ensuring that even the Matt Hales of this world, even the most unrepentant and obnoxious bigots among us have the opportunity to let their words prevail in the marketplace of ideas."

"Part of the reason I was temporarily denied my law license is because of my disbelief in racial equality," said Hale, who spews his racist venom on his www.creator.org website and proclaims his desire to "represent white racist people.".

"Great men, great attorneys have doubted that proposition (racial equality) as well," he added, citing AbrahamLincoln among them.

Chicago Tribune columnist Clarence Page, who is black, also felt compelled to support Hale's right to his law license.

In a column titled "Protecting an American right to hate," Page said: "the (constitution's) 1st amendment (on free speech) does swing both ways and so does every effort to restrict it."

"Attempts to silence unpopular minority views at one extreme inevitably swing back to squash minority views on the other side. Before you know, just about every view in between fees the squeeze, too," he added.

"Let Hale practice law. He has earned the privilege. His colleagues, already a mixed bag, should simply accept the fact that the bar sometimes must admit members who are too despicable to be invited to dinner."