Hate Crimes Prevention Act Analysis

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

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

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.

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”

<br>As hate crimes have risen in number during the past five years; many state governments have attempted to prevent such crimes by passing laws called bias laws. These laws make a crime that is motivated by hatred based on the victim's race, religion, ethnic background, or sexual orientation a more serious crime than such an act would ordinarily be. Many people believe that these laws violate the criminal's freedom of speech. Many hate group members say that freedom of speech is the right to say or write or publish one's

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.

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.

In the last few years, Florida has generated attention for many hate crimes. In 2013 Tavares Spencer, a resident of Tampa was found guilty of first degree attempted murder and sentenced to 25 years in prison for attacking a woman after she revealed she was transgender. Hate crimes are criminal acts of hatred towards individuals or groups because of religion, race, sexual orientation or other personal attributes. If the criminal act was motivated simply by the defendant's prejudice or hatred of the victim because of these factors, the criminal act qualifies as a hate crime.

In Decmeber 2015, four young, African American adults kidnapped and tortured an 18-year old mentally disabled, white male for five hours while broadcasting the attack on Facebook Live. The victim was tied up and his mouth was stuffed with a sock, which was sealed by tape. The attackers shouted “F-Donald Trump” and “F-white people,” while kicking, punching, and eventually cutting his forehead with a knife. The offenders also forced the victim to drink toilet water and kiss the floor. One of the attackers demanded $300 from the victim’s mother as a ransom before returning her child. The offenders were charged with a hate crime based on the victim’s mental disabilities and race, felony aggravated kidnapping, aggravated unlawful restraint and aggravated

On April 28, 2009, Senator, Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat from Massachusetts, introduced to the 111th CONGRESS, 1st Session S. 909, The Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act. The purpose of this act was to “provide Federal assistance to States, local jurisdictions, and Indian tribes to prosecute hate crimes” (Kennedy, 2009 p.1). Assistance other than financial assistance, in general, at the request of State, local or, tribal law enforcement agency, the Attorney General may provide technical, forensic, prosecutorial, or any other form of assistance in the criminal investigation or prosecution of any crime that , constitutes a crime of violence; constitutes a felony under the State, local, or tribal laws; and is

In the article “All crimes are hate crimes” written by Jim McPherson, he states that “hate crime laws tend to promote inequality rather than curb it. Such laws create special classes of citizens who enjoy a special status.” When you think about it like that it opens the door for so many pros and cons of whether or not “hate crimes” should be treated different from any other crime. “It is inherently unjust to punish certain crimes more harshly than others simply because the victim is a member of a special chosen group, it demeans those who aren’t considered special and is contrary to the idea that laws should apply equally to everyone regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or other variables. If someones grandfather is assaulted, should the law care less because he doesn’t happen to be gay?” Some people believe that hate crime laws are a threat to our

problem in today's society, but it is not dealt with the same violent manner as

The weaknesses prior to hate crime is that it tears the unity of the U.S. as a whole down. Committing any type of crime is erroneous, but a hate crime takes it to another level. Disliking someone because of their race or sexual preference should not lead one to harm or murder in any way. LGBT in particular, are afraid to be themselves because they will be discriminated against and as well as harassed for something that is out of their control. Often time’s gay males and lesbians pretend to be heterosexual just to be accepted, preferably in a work environment. Same for African Americans, there are some African Americans that wish and portray as if they were Caucasian or another race for the fact that black on black crimes, robberies, and the