are still happening today even though we live in a more forward thinking society then the previous generations before us.
are still happening today even though we live in a more forward thinking society then the previous generations before us.
This Note will focus solely on federal hate crime legislation as it pertains to racially motivated hate crimes. While there is currently federal legislation in place, it should be modified to mandate the charging of hate crimes when sufficient evidence is present to indicate an offense was committed because of racially motivated bias. Part II provides a brief history of hate crimes, hate crime legislation, and the need for hate crime legislation in America. Part III…
A hate crime is an assault or any other crime directed at a person of another race or religion. Hate crimes are usually very brutal and harmful, and victims are not only hurt physically but also are emotionally traumatized and terrified (Fritsch et al, 2015). For others in the community who have similar victim’s characteristic, they may also feel victimized and vulnerable, posing a possible increase in an attempt to retaliate for the original offense. The legislation does not allow individuals to be prosecuted for their hateful thoughts, but instead allows them to be punished for their hateful acts. Thus, willfully inflicting…
Hate crimes happens any and every where, in small and large cities, and every state. As long as hate crimes have been happening the actual name “hate crime” is new and so is the idea of special treatment of these offenses (Gerstenfeld 2010). The first hate crime law was not passed until 1980 and 3 decades later only 44 states, District of Columbia and the federal government have some form of hate crime legislation (Gerstenfeld 2010). In this day and time I find it hard to believe that not all 50 states have some type of hate crime law. Some people do not believe there should be special laws for hate crimes because they say all violent crimes are hateful regardless of race and sexual orientation. Those in favor of hate crime laws argue that there are hate crime laws because; the person who commits a hate crime deserve an increased punishment because these type of crimes are worse than ordinary; hate crime laws will deter the act; and that the laws will show that this type of crime is not allowed (Gerstenfeld 2010). In the US the most frequently reported hate crime is racism against blacks with 3,000 of the 8,000 hate crime reported to the FBI against black people (FBI 2009). In 1990 the Hate Crime Statistics Act was…
Who are the victims in a hate crime? Victimization does not end with the primary person that was attacked. The Laramie Project demonstrated how the entire community, and eventually the nation, of a little town in Wyoming was affected by the death of 22 year old Matthew Shepard in October, 1998. Secondary victims, who do not bear the physical pain, but endure the after effects and emotional pain, included Matthew’s parents, Deputy Sheriff Reggie Fluty (who was called to the crime scene and tended to Matthew), and Doctor Cantway (who treated both Matthew and one of his attackers, Aaron McKinney) (Karmen, 2013). The effects of this hate crime saturated a society and called more than morals into question. Incidents like these force humanity to look at itself and criticize its core beliefs. Laramie’s motto of “Live and Let Live” applied to most…
As an African-American male growing up in the South, hate speech was not an idea to be debated or a conceptual item to be reflected upon. It was the reality, as raw and real as the heat on a hot summer's day. I experienced hate speech before I was even old enough to understand it. After years of being called every racial slur in the book, I realized that even hate speech could serve a purpose. This combined with the current conversation surrounding Donald Trump's campaign and its rhetoric is why I…
Some laws define hate crimes to include attacks inspired not only by racial or religious bias but also by antipathy to veterans, disabled people, sexual minorities, and the elderly. As the list of protected groups gets longer and longer, the law may be approaching a situation in which every crime is a hate crime (Page 2).” As I said before, the U.S is made up of minorities. If we keep on adding minorities to the list, we are going to be putting all citizens…
Given that our society has such a dense population of different races, ethnicities, religions and sexual orientations, it is important to understand both the goals and challenges of policing and dealing with hate and bias crimes. Considering that since the beginning stages of immigration we have tried to support successful assimilation, hate and bias crimes create a huge barrier. Hate and bias crimes “occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her membership in a certain social group, usually defined by race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, gender identity, or political affiliation” (en.wikipedia.org). Not only is it difficult for our society to identify this sort of crime, but it is also extremely hard to enact comprehensive laws governing the way police and society as a whole should handle these crimes. An important problem associated with bias and hate crimes is distinguishing them from other “everyday” crimes; often, the terms are used interchangeably. Law enforcement as well as the general public should understand that bias and hate crimes are in many ways the same crimes that are committed everyday, but that hate and bias crimes are committed intentionally against a person because of a certain bias and are usually much more violent. Furthermore, deciding how offenders should be identified and punished is sometimes problematic “because motivation is subjective, [and] it is often difficult for police officers to determine whether an offense was motivated by bias” (Katz, pg 301)…
|What questions do you have about the topic that you would like to|What is a hate crime?…
Although individuals are free to believe in what they want, there is a limit to how much an individual can practice it. Hate crimes attack the very base of American society, built on freedom and equality. This is where the line must be drawn. It is America's job to ensure that freedom and equality is available to everyone without the oppression of any individuals who think otherwise. Hate crime offenders practice their beliefs to the point that their actions are no longer safe on the individuals against their views. As with any case under the American law, crimes become hate crimes if, and only if, there is sufficient evidence that the motive was a bias against the victim. For example, the Shepard case involved a witness, an attacker's girlfriend, which stated that the suspect's actions were triggered by "how he felt about gays." The trials resulted in both suspects receiving an additional life sentence due to the hate crime evidence. Another famous case is the Zimmerman case which involved a Hispanic man who shot, and ultimately killed, an African-American teenager…
Hate crime laws compose of 1% of the total violent and property crimes in 1997. Hate crimes statistics vary widely, making it a guess by the judge to be determined if it is a hate crime or not. Mid 2016, legislative sought to make killing a police officer a hate crime, but was turned down. A black man assaulted both a white man and a black man; the white man got more fines against his assaulter than the black man, giving the white man more protection breaking the constitution. Advocacy groups consistently over estimate the number of hate crimes that are reported to the law enforcements every year. According to studies, a bias crime can have a greater impact on people and their mental health then a normal crime. The government wants to have more power over hate crime because it is so hard to determine a hate crime. There is no way to determine if a hate crime was motivated by bias or not without being the person committing the crime. The government decides whether something is a hate crime or not making their decision a guess, which is wrong, is so many ways. (Tatchell…
Hate Crimes are a very cantankerous subject but as far back as many can deliberate they have been happening. Whether it be a bombing, a beating or maybe even just a verbal assault on someone because they are Jewish or racial assaults because they are African-American or of colored decent. Even because of sexual preference these things happen.…
The problem behind rising rates of hate crimes has created a very controversial subject. Rising rates has brought to our attention the dangerous problems we as a society could potentially face. Over the course of the last couple years hate crimes have created a devastating impact on families and communities, but also because groups that preach hatred and intolerance could plant the seed of terrorism here in our country. Trans activists should focus our resources and attention on winning inclusion, legal equality frameworks such as, anti-discrimination laws and hate crime laws that will provide relief from the life-shortening conditions trans populations are facing. While crime is a problem already, what is even worse is that hate crimes…
In 2017 you’ll think we will stop seeing racial slurs and hate crimes because we are overcoming it with intelligence and common sense, well no; There have always been hate crimes, but ever since Donald Trump was elected candidate for the presidency there's been much more discriminating and racism than ever, and why is this important? Because who wants to live in a country full of hate, anyways reports don't lie.…
Over the years, hate crimes has been of the biggest issue in the American history. Since the time of colonization human has been victims of hate crime. In most of the cases of hate crimes, victims don’t report this crime because lack of criminalization. Minorities/powerless groups are the most common victims of hate crime and sometimes their rights are not protected as majority group.…
African Americans have suffered and struggled throughout their history due to a variation of factors. One main factor involved in causing this is due to the racial prejudice and hate crimes perpetrated against them. In the United States, there have been movements and laws to protect these individuals from such acts of hatred; but injustice continues today as it has in past years. Although, hate crimes are against the law, individuals continue to commit hate crimes against African Americans. Hate crimes are "crimes that manifest evidence of prejudice based on race, religion, sexual orientation, or ethnicity, including where appropriate the crimes of murder, non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, aggravated assault, simple assault, intimidation,…