Hate Crimes: A Brief Summary And Analysis

“Aragones said a hate crime is any offense motivated by bias, prejudice, or hate based on sex, sexual orientation, or any other similar factor, including damaging the honor or the reputation of the victim, or a group of persons to which the victim belongs, on account of their actual or supposed sexual identity. Under the Revised Penal Code, a person who commits a Crime Against Persons or Against Chastity against a member of the LGBT community shall suffer the maximum penalty imposed by the law if it is proven that the act complained of is in the nature of a hate crime.” (Solon wants, 2013) Many times these crimes are just pushed over like petty assault charges and the victims are given nothing. Often times the charges of a crime produced by hate, the sentence isn’t even doubled(Lewin, A. 2014).

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.

In America Many people perceive people that commit hate crimes as crazed, hate-filled neo-Nazis or \\"skinheads\\". But in all actually these crimes are committed by people like you and me in some senses it could be your next door neighbor or your best friend but research by Dr. Edward Dunbar, a clinical psychologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, reveals that of 1,459 hate crimes committed in the Los Angeles area in the period 1994 to

A hate crime is a crime of prejudice. The commitment of hate crimes is motivated by racial, sexual and even religious differences that often result to violence and death. America today is besieged by hate crimes. It seems that everywhere we turn, in the newspapers, on television and on social media, hate crimes are not only reported but are actually supported. It is unprecedented in American history how much bigotry is thrown out in our faces from the news and in social media. (Patillo, 2017) Behind every hate crime is a message. This is why the mainstream media and social media have become platforms for various groups to brag about their religious and racial biases and what they intend to do about those who against their beliefs. Hate crimes are espoused by religious and racial bigots to sow hate and dissension in order to convince people that their religious and racial prejudices are correct. Politicians, law enforcement units and the local community have to take firm steps to prevent such acts of violence from occurring in their locality.

The topic of hate crime is so controversial because there can be different perspectives on the whole issue, which can eventually cause a massive huge debate on the entire matter. In Ben Gillis article called Understanding Hate Crime Statutes and Building Towards a Better System in Texas, the author separates his points in a way that can give the reader a better way of understanding the Hate Crime laws and the effects of it. Gillis’s way of dissecting the article is extremely effective due to the fact that not only he explains what exactly a hate crime is in its basic form but he also explains hate crime in its entirety, and he also shows how some states adapt to the whole issue. People may ask in what way does it make it in a sense “illegal”

The phrase “Hate Crime” rose to prominence in the 1980s, in an attempt to describe crimes against someone based on their race or religion. These crimes were motivated, at least in part and sometimes in entirety, by bias against African Americans and Jews. Since that time, the term has expanded to include illegal acts against a person, organization, and their property based on the criminal’s bias against the victim’s minority class. These minority classes include race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, disability, or gender reassignment. These are specific crimes because not only are they crimes against someone, they are committed based on who someone is (Martin 1996). This paper will discuss the history of hate crimes and the response of law enforcement officers to hate crimes.

Circumstances that constitute hate crimes are people committing crime against certain types of people either due to political differences, social class, ethnicity, or sexuality. People who are against a certain group’s lifestyle act out against them which can be in a physical or verbal way.

The hate crime legislations in the United States need to clearly define and identify hate crimes. Title 18 of the United States Code allows prosecutors to prosecute anyone who intentionally injures, intimidate, interferes with someone else, or attempts to do so, by force because of a person’s race, color, religions, or

Presently, hate or bias-motivated crimes targeting victims because of race, color, religion, or national origin are punishable under federal law. Many states have laws which prohibit violent crimes against individuals based on these and/or other characteristics. In 1990, with the passage of the Hate Crimes Statistics Act, the federal government began to collect data about select categories of hate crimes. At present, no federal law exists that criminalizes bias-motivated crimes perpetrated against a person, property, or society that are motivated by the offender’s bias against a gender, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Yes, hate crimes have an effect on both the immediate target and the communities of which the individuals are a member, which differentiate them from other crimes. While violent crime victimization carries risk for psychological distress, victims of violent hate crimes may suffer from more psychological distress than victims of other comparable violent crimes. Survivors of violent crimes, including hate crimes, are also at risk for developing a variety of mental health problems including depression, anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder.

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.

Why is hate critical to understand? Why is it crucial that societies teach their youth the evil of hate crimes? Teaching how hate grows is a good learning experience for children. With this information, they’ll grow up and will be able to react to hate crimes more justly. Essentially, hate crimes can be categorized into sections. There are different degrees, thus the Pyramid of Hate, as constructed by the Anti-Defamation League, shows in a simplified manner,

Hate crimes laws began their development in the United States in the year of 1968. Hate crime laws originally made it illegal to “use, or threaten to use, force ro willingly interfere with any person because of race, color, religion, or national origin, because the person is participating in a federally protected activity” (2017). Laws were later passed to protect housing rights, familial status, and religious property, and in 2009, President Obama passed the Matthew Shephard and James Byrd Prevention Act to protect gender, gender identity, disability, and sexual orientation. Hate crime legislation is necessary. Without these legislations, people of religion, race, national origin, gender, gender identity, disability, and sexual orientation would not be protected under the law.

but the battle has been a lot more words. Hate crimes are a serious problem in

Hate crime policies pose a dilemma. They have been criticized for being impractical. For instance, a national survey research conducted in1999 found that 95% of people support the hate crime laws. However, writers argue that hate crime laws penalize the free speech and freedom of thought as well. These laws are a result of special interest groups who lobby for legislation that meet their needs. Supporters for hate crime recognize that these laws and policies are effected to promote the maintenance of civil society. On the other hand, these laws safeguard people from violence against special interest groups. Lastly, after 911 human right advocates have expressed concerning and seeking policies that establish hate crime laws in workplace and inter group.

Throughout American history, violent criminal acts against a specific person or a group of individuals were just that, violent crimes. In the 1980’s, the term hate crime was born. The term hate crime was used by a group of advocates to describe a series of violent incidents targeting several minorities (Nij.gov, 2015). A hate crime is “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,