[JURIST] The number of hate groups in the US rose to more than 1,000 during 2010, according to a report released Wednesday by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). The SPLC reports this is the first time that these types of groups have exceeded 1,000 since the it started its monitoring in the 1980s. According to SPLC's hate group map the highest number (68) of hate groups exist in California, while the lowest number (0) were reported in Alaska and Hawaii. The SPLC also noted that more than 300 new "Patriot" movements appeared in 2010. These groups embrace conspiracy theories about the US government and tend to view the government as their enemy. Finally, there are now 319 Nativist extreme groups in the US. The classification of some groups has been disputed. In particular, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) [official profile] and Minnesota State Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota protested the SPLC's listing of the conservative Family Research Council as a hate group. SPLC has defended the classification saying that the groups deliberately disseminated untrue information about gay people. In its report, SPLC cites a number of dramatic incidents, including the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) and the January arrest of a neo-Nazi at the Arizona border who was armed with grenades, as acts of "terrorism" committed by the swelling number of radical groups in the US.