Hate Crime

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.

What is a hate crime? Although the definition can vary based on what groups are included (Cogan, 2006, p. 174) the simplest definition would be, violence against a person or group of people based on their gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, race or disability (Burgess, Regehr, & Roberts, 2013). Hate Crimes do not just effect the victim but also the community. Those who become victims of hate crime are not chosen at random, it is because of the group they identify with or belong too (Cogan, 2006, p. 174) Hate speech, “defined as words used as weapons to ambush, terrorize, wound, humiliate and degrade” (Burgess et al., 2013, p. 480) another person. Violence is seriously damaging to a victim and the community, but

The American Heritage Dictionary defines hate as intense dislike or animosity. However, defining hate as the basis for a crime is not as easy without possibly jeopardizing constitutional rights in the process. Hate crime laws generally add enhanced punishments to existing statues. A hate crime law seeks to treat a crime, if it can be demonstrated that the offense was a hate crime differently from the way it would be treated under ordinary criminal law. Since the 1980s, the problem of hate crimes has attracted increasing research attention, especially from criminologists and law enforcement personnel who have focused primarily on documenting the prevalence of the problem and

A hate crime is a crime directed to an individual or group of individuals due to their age, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity. Hate crimes are caused by a feeling of being threatened by a certain group of people which causes the perpetrator to act on angrily. Ever since the concept emerged in the late 1970s, laws were passed in numerous U.S. states mandating penalties for malicious crimes motivated by bias or bigotry against a particular group. Crimes motivated by bias or hate, are committed to send out a message to both the immediate victim, and as well as the group the individual identifies himself/herself as (Legislation, 2012). Some perpetrators commit hate crimes with their peers as a thrill or under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol; some as a reaction against a received threat; and some out of resentment over the growing economic power of particular racial or ethnic group scapegoating. Of all crimes, hate crimes are most likely to create tensions, which can trigger larger community-wide racial conflict, civil disturbances, and even riots. Hate crimes put cities at-risk of serious social and economic consequence. The costs of racial conflicts and civil disturbance are police, fire, and medical personnel overtime, injury or death, business and property loss, and damage to vehicles and equipment. Penalties for the U.S. Federal Law Hate Crime Convictions in the United States. The penalty is a prison term up to ten years if the hate

“The term hate crime was coined in the 1980s by journalists and policy advocates who were attempting to describe a series of incidents directed at Jews, Asians and African-Americans. The Federal Bureau of Investigation defines hate crime (also known as 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.(National Institute of justice, Paragraph 1, December 22, 2010.)”

Hate violence refers to crimes that are directed against families, persons, organizations, or groups due to their ethnic, racial, sexual, religious identities, orientations or conditions of disability (Whitlock & Bronski, 2016). Accordingly, hate violence included crimes of arson at the business or homes, damage and destruction of religious property, personal assaults, homicides, and cross burnings. In the United States, hate violence has a long history. However, although it might be challenging to assess and estimate the prevalence of this kind of hate in the United States, there are clear indications that the problem has increased in recent years (Whitlock & Bronski, 2016). Connectively,

There’s a lot of hate crimes going on in the world today, It’s being highly debated as to whether or not hate crimes should be legislated against. “Hate Crimes” are referred to as criminal acts against a person, group, or property due to one’s race, religion, gender or sexual orientation. (Civil Rights-Hate Crimes-Overview), an individual who experiences a hate crime may be threatened, harassed, physically harmed, or killed.

As indicated earlier on, hate crimes have severe impacts on the victims. Because Americans continually encounter hate crimes, hate crime laws may not be as effective in several aspects. These aspects include sexual orientation, disability, racism and religious issues of hate crime. In sexual orientation, people are individuals that are either lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) in nature, and victims of these specific hate crimes feel isolated and underrated. Additionally, physically challenged individuals are also victims of hate crime offenses. Moreover, some people devise plans on how to attack other people or groups of people based on their race or

A hate crime is a crime which the victim is selected because of his or her actual or perceived race, color, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or national origin. (Sullaway, 2004) In 2016 there was 7,615 victims of hate crimes. Out of 7,615 there was 106 victims was considered a separate multiple-bias incident. There were 4,426 victims of race/ethnicity/ancestry motivated hate crimes. There were 1,584 victims of anti-religious hate crimes. There were 1,255 victims of sexual-orientation, 131 victims of gender-identity, 77 victims of hate crimes towards people with disabilities, and 36 victims toward a specific gender. There were 4,720 victims of hate crimes against a person. There were 2,813 victims of hate crimes against property

Hate crimes are violations against the law that are motivated by a type of prejudice. 80% of these crimes include violence and are taken very seriously. In fact, they are the highest priority of the FBI’s Civil Rights program. They are essentially dangerous to the community because they encourage hatred and can even be classified as a form of terrorism. Since hate crimes have been on a rise since the mid 1900’s, law enforcement agencies have been forced to take action. As a result of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, the FBI was able to investigate any biased crimes based upon race, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or gender.

To declare a crime, constitutionally, as an act of hate, victim compliance is necessary. This is not always an easy task, however. Of all the intricacies surrounding hate crime, this may forever be the most prominent and challenging of them all. This is due to the potential reluctance of victims to comply, and there are many reasons for why they would have such reluctance. For starters, a notable one is their fear of re-victimization.

A hate crime is a crime directed to an individual or group of individuals due to their age, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity. Ever since the concept emerged in the late 1970s, laws were passed

In the United States, there are particular crimes that are motivated partially or in whole by the offender’s hostility toward their victim’s specific social group. Such crimes have spawned research concerning hate crime victimization. “The assessment of these offenders is particularly important that the majority of hate crimes are not committed for gain (e.g., robbery) or as a consequence of reactive revenge-type aggression as is found in domestic or workplace violence (Dunbar, Quinones, & Crevecoeur, 2005). According to Dunbar (2005), there is no up-to-date available information concerning the risks for attacks and violence posed by hate crime offenders. It is suggested that the absence of this information is leading to problems with recognizing

A hate crime is defined as “the violence of intolerance and bigotry, intended to hurt and intimidate someone because of their race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, or disability(U.S. Department of Justice).” There are laws against hate crimes in the Washington D.C and forty-five states. The five states that do not have any laws are: Arkansas, Georgia, Michigan, South Carolina, and Wyoming. States that have these laws would enforce a harsher punishment for crimes where prejudice is used such as types of assault, vandalism, and murder. There were 7,722 reported hate crimes in 2006. Fifty-two percent were targeted at people because of their race, nineteen percent because of their religion, sixteen percent for their sexual orientation, and thirteen percent for ethnicity and national origin.

“Overall last year, 931 hate crime events were reported, up from 837 in 2015. There were 1,190 additional offenses reported, up from 1,057 in 2015. But the numbers are on the rise. Hate crimes in 2015 were up 10.4 percent compared to 2014” (Hart). Hate crimes are incidents involving acts of rape, assault, vandalism, or homicide, that are directed to people of a certain ethnic or racial groups. Since before World War 1, the FBI has been investigating and recording hate crimes that have resulted in homicides and increased tensions between ethnic and racial factions. This is being resolved through increased awareness and public pressure to report incidents.