The Importance Of The Hate Crimes Prevention Act

Because of the ongoing racial tension, in December 2006, a fight broke from a White student taunting some Black students supporting the incident of the nooses being hung from the tree in the school courtyard (Christie, 2008). The White student was badly beaten and had to be hospitalized. The African American students were later charged with attempted murder and conspiracy. The African American students were between the ages of 15 and 17, facing up to 100 years in prison without parole. African American residents of Jena, Louisiana stated

October 7, 1998, 21-year-old Matthew Wayne Shepard was murdered in what is likely the most infamous anti-gay hate crimes in American History.

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”

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that” (Martin Luther King Jr). Hate crimes are a big problem in the world today and need to be stopped. To end hate crimes people need to learn to look past what is on the outside of a person and learn to love what it on the inside. In the selection, Why We Need to Tolerate Hate by Wendy Kaminer, Kaminer emphasizes what hate crimes are and how they are treated differently than other crimes. Since hate crimes are a problem in the world today, we need to understand if hate crime prosecution is prosecution of thought and belief, the change of hate crime laws over time, and the way that the prosecution of hate crimes has changed over time.

While hate crime is a fairly new label for a crime, the existence of hate crimes has been present since the early days of the United States. Throughout US history, murders, assaults, and destruction of property has occurred against African Americans, American Indians, Irish immigrants, Asian Americans, Latino’s, gays, the mentally handicapped, and all other groups of minorities. Since the terrorist attacks on 9/11, there has been an increase in racial based attacks against those of Middle Eastern descent, whether they are Muslim or not. Of all of these, African Americans are subjected to the highest number of hate crimes (Martin 1996), with Muslims, homosexuals, and transgendered people on

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

Crimes based off of hate is a crime that is caused based off a bias towards a person or race. These crimes are called hate crimes and effect people all around of all ages and is a bais that is not easily forgotten. There are laws specifically for this crime that one can be persecuted for just for people who have disagreement about another person’s religion and race , and why we need them in our society. Hate crimes in my opinion are wrong and not needed in this world but can not be forgotten because of history between people. If the history between the people of this world was different then maybe these laws would be unnecessary but we need them to protect the good people in the world who didn’t ask to be different.

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.

In today’s society the hate crime rate has dramatically boosted with the integration and diversity of various cultures. In fact, in 2012 over 5,000 hate crimes were reported in the United States. Statistics have concluded that out of the 5,000 hated crimes, the majority of them are related to racial discrimination, social discrimination, sexual discrimination, and economical discrimination. These crimes can range anywhere from physical and verbal assault, to vandalism, and robbery. Due to the inflation of these bias crimes, authorities are not able to demolish these immortalities from occurring. Out of the many bias crimes in America, I have narrowed my topic of research to the Wayne Community College massacre case.

In 2009, the Hate Crimes Statistics Act was amended by the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. This amendment provides funding to help different levels of jurisdiction better investigate and prosecute hate crimes. Additionally, this amendment expanded the protections of hate crimes to include disability, gender identity, sexuality, and gender. This Act was brought about following the deaths of Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr., who were both victims of brutal hate crimes.

In many cities throughout the United States, hate crimes are on the rise. A hate crime is a "traditional offense like murder, arson, or vandalism with an added element of bias. For the purposes of collecting statistics, Congress has defined a hate crime as a 'criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender's bias against a race, religion, disability, ethnic origin or sexual orientation'" (FBI, 2012). Hate crimes have increased as the national conversation has grown less tolerant. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that hate crimes against Latinos, Muslims, and homosexuals have seemingly increased in recent years. However, whether hate crimes are actually on the rise is something that is debated; the upswing in reported hate crimes may be due to an actual increase in crime rates, but it could also be due to an increase in reporting.

The Hate Crime Prevention Act provides funding and technical assistances to state, local, and tribal jurisdictions to help them to more effectively investigate and prosecute hate crimes (The United States Department of Justice, 2015). This specific policy also created a new federal law against individuals who committed a crime based on a victim’s: religion, national origin, race, gender identity, sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or disability (The United State Department of Justice, 2015). The theory of social justice is a theory that share a connection with the Hate Crime Prevention Act because it illustrates the fair and equal treatment of all individuals. According to Robinson (2010) John Rawls a theorist who published “Justice as Fairness” stated the theory of social justice develops principles of justice that governs a modern social order.

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,

Hate crimes or bias-motivated crime is one of the most entrench and pervasive challenge faced by LGBT groups worldwide. This situation occurs when the perpetrator of the crime intentionally selects the victim based of who the victim is. Hate crimes might lead to severe violent acts which are mostly based on prejudice, often has a stronger impact because the motive behind the crime is to terrorise an entire group or community. Russia had been involve in a controversial incident regarding the status of gays and lesbians in Russia during the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi. According to a survey from 2013 Pew Research Centre, nearly three-quarters of the Russian population thinks that homosexuality is morally unacceptable. Homosexuality tops the