Essay On Matthew Shepard Hate Crime

On November 14, 2008 in New York, A 22 year old Transgender woman named Lateisha Green went to a house party with her brother and her friends.They were sitting outside in the car and a man came up to the car and shot her to death.Many people think the man shot her because of the way she looks.The man name is Dwight DeLee while he was shooting her, witnesses said that he made anti-gay slurs. Dwight DeLee was found guilty of manslaughter and have to face 25 years in prison. Dwight was the second person to be proven guilty of a hate crime against a Transgender woman. Hate crimes are a crime that’s usually violent that occurs when a person targets a victim because of his and her race,religion or sexual orientation.Hate crimes have a negative effect on society because people do not feel

Within the next five years, two cases would gain media attention and spark activist movements across the nation that would lead to expansion of the existing hate crime laws. My recollection of these two cases is pretty vivid, although I was pretty young at the time; I was inquisitive in nature and tended to watch the evening news with my parents:

Hate Crimes Law” (Human Rights Campaign). Due to violent act such as those things and people that we choose not to understand the HRC got involved in the “The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act” (Human Rights Campaign). This act was established in 1998 to help local law enforcement help protect and have resources available to report hate crimes. The act also permits the government to provide grants, assistance to state, local authorities investigating and prosecuting in hate crimes. The federal government currently has no authority to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to

keep a close eye on racial Issues. Even though our way of punishing people for these crimes are ineffective and very unfair. Most laws are written to determine whether the person intentionally selected their victim or if it was a random act. The hate crime laws in California's, for example, says that any crime retaining to a certain race or even religious group, will ultimately call for harsher punishment to the criminal. There have even been a few times were people want to include violence against police a hate crime. (McLaughlin, 2017) Criminals who commit hate crimes target their victims, whether randomly or planned out. A few years ago, in Charleston SC, there was a young white male believed to be in some sort of white supremist group, walked into a predominantly black church and randomly opened fire before leaving. Police found the man and brought him into custody, a few weeks later he was sentenced to a few months in prison and is now on with his life. So, for discouraging racial influence on people would clearly have to start at an earlier age, to prevent further hate crimes would mean that we would need to teach young children the dangers of committing racially charged crimes. In New York, multiple bomb threats were called into Jewish communities, and group of lawmakers in that state pushed to secure more help to those victims of hate crimes. The hate crime legislation, recently passed by the democratic party, made an offense that if you were making graffiti, then it

Hate Crimes: crimes motivated by a victim’s actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or religion(Federal officials, 2011). Hate crimes have been around for centuries. A hate crime is considered any malicious crime that is derived from hatred towards a certain group of people. African Americans are still victim to hate crimes, even after the Civil Rights movement. James Byrd Jr. suffered a prime example of a gruesome hate crime in 1998, because of his African American descent. Three white men, allegedly, chained Byrd to the back of a pickup truck and dragged him down a gravel road, leaving his body parts severed and bloody (Marty,1998). Recently, a new group of people has been targeted by the hateful view

A 2005 study conducted by National Institute of Justice, found that the Federal Government and all but one state, Wyoming, have laws related to hate crimes. A consistent problem identified by this study is there in no consistency in defining what constitutes a hate crime. (Carrie F. Mulford, Ph.D., & Michael Shively, Ph.D., Hate Crime in America: The Debate Continues, 257, Nat’l Inst Just., (2007). “The Federal Bureau of Investigation defines hate crime—also called bias crime—as “a criminal offense committed against a person, property, or society that is motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity/national origin.” ld.

To facilitate exploring a specific anti-gay defense, I locate this statute within its homophobic political

In 2009, 6,604 hate crime incidents were reported to the FBI, 48.8% of which were motivated by race, 19.7% by religious prejudice, 18.5%by sexual orientation, 11.8% by ethnicity, and 1.5% by disability bias (Hate Crime Statistics, 2009). Recently, the FBI released the 2010 statistics that unfortunately reveal a slight increase in the number of hate crime incidents: 6,628 incidents were reported in 2010, 47.3% of which were motivated by race, 20% by religious prejudice, 19.3% by sexual orientation, 12.8% by ethnicity, and .6% by disability bias (Hate Crime Statistics, 2010). While racially-motivated and disability-motivated crimes appear to have decreased, hate crime motivated by religion, sexual orientation, and ethnicity has risen in the last year. Improvements in hate crime laws and punishments are necessary in order for these statistics to decrease.

There are currently laws in place in the United States that affect how hate crimes are punished. In 1981, Oregon and Washington became the first states to ratify a law preventing and penalizing hate crimes (Nat. Institute of Justice). The first act against hate crimes was put into action by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968 (US Department of Justice). In 2009, the United States passed the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which changed some of the laws previously put in place, so that they would cover additional minorities. This act also required data to be kept in regards to crimes committed and reported.

Hate crimes are many different criminal acts such as vandalism, arson, assault, and even murder. Many hate crimes are based on an individual’s race, gender, religion, age, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and disabilities. Everyone can be potential victims of hate crimes. Anyone from any social class can be considered targets for hate crimes. If you or a group believes in a different religion or speaks a different language and the offenders do not approve, then they will target you. No one can be really safe and overcome hate crimes if they are being targeted. It is a cruel and depressing world. With help as a community can stop hate crimes.

Profile of a Hate Crime Offender Sterilized from emotion, hate crime, also called bias crime, is those offenses motivated in part or singularly by personal prejudice against other because of a diversity-race, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity/national origin, or disability. Hate crimes are committed out of anger, ignorance, and lack of knowledge of another’s ideas and beliefs. There are many causes for an individual to commit a hate crime. Also, many different profiles fit the description of a hate crime offender. There are ways to prevent and control hate crimes, but they will always be present in society as long as every person has the right to express his or her opinion.

Matthew Shepard was a 21 year old freshman in college at the University of Wyoming when he was robbed and then killed in a hate crime on October 7, 1998 by Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson for being gay. As a result of his death, Matthew Shepard became a symbol and a motivator for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) rights and movements.

Wyoming, October 7th 1998. Aaron Kriefels is cycling in a remote rural area when he sees what at first he believes to be a scarecrow tied to a fence. He looks closer and sees not a scarecrow, but a young man badly beaten and close to death. The victims name was Matthew Shepard. On Dec. 1st 1976, Matthew Shepard was born in Casper, Wyoming. He attended elementary school in the states, but after his first year in high school his family moved to Saudi Arabia. He then attended the American School in Switzerland where he was elected as a peer mediator. His friends and peers felt comfortable talking to him and he was someone you came to when you needed advice. He was described by his father as "an optimistic and accepting young man who had a

Hate crime victims can be anyone in any class, higher class, middle class, and lower class, no matter how much money you have you are still a person and people view you as that person; and then those people commit those crimes, “Of the 7,615 overall victims, 4,720 were victims of crimes against persons (both adults and juveniles), 2,813 were victims of crimes against property, and 82 were victims of hate crimes categorized as crimes against society (e.g., weapons violations, drug offenses, gambling).”("2016 Hate Crime

Hate crimes are not a new concept for society, because hate crimes have always been around. While the study of hate crimes and the laws that have been passed because of hate crimes is relatively new, hate crimes have always been around. Hate crimes were committed as far back as the 1800’s and even back to The Civil War. Hate crimes are prevalent in society today just like they were in the past; because whether the crimes are aimed towards Muslims, the gay community, or any other minority group; they are fueled by something that every person has come into contact with- prejudice. Prejudice is defined as a preconceived thought or opinion about someone. While prejudice can be positive, in the concept of hate crimes they are negative feelings,