The Pros And Cons Of 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

Even though the jurisdiction is clear and evident, outlined by Christ, there and many states that have imposed a more severe punishment for crimes that are committed out of hatred. For example, in 1989 Montana adopted a "Sentence Enhancement" related to hate crimes (Ryken Grattet & Valerie Jenness, Examining the Boundaries of Hate Crime Law: Disabilities and the Dilemma of Difference, J. Crim. L. Criminology, 653, 661 (2001). The Montana law created in 1989 was specific and contained sentencing guidelines stricter then if the crime was not considered a hate

Hate crimes has become an increasing problem here in the united states ranging from racial hatred to gender discrimination but what are hate crimes? According to Dr. Jack McDevitt, a criminologist at Northeastern University in Boston Hate crimes are message crimes, Hate crimes are defined as crimes that are violent act against people, property, or organizations because of the group to which they belong or identify with. The coined term “hate crimes” was first used No matter how many different definitions there are for hate crimes but we all can agree that hate crimes are wrong and immoral. But within hate crimes they are many different types of hate crimes. One of the main reasons that people commit hate crimes would

Now any one can take a jab at what they think a hate crime is but in the article Understanding Hate Crime Statutes and Building Towards a Better System in Texas the author supports us with his definition of a what is a hate crime “a hate crime, at its basic level is an ‘attack upon the person or property of an individual motivated by hatred of a characteristic of that person, such as race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or ethnicity’” (Gillis 199). Now that the definition gives us clarity on what exactly labeled onto what exactly is considered a hate crime. For example, did you know that if someone vandalizes a synagogue and they write something offensive to the Followers of that particular religion that will be considered a hate crime because of the person is “motivated by hatred” towards the Followers (Gillis 199). You may have your own perspective on a particular group but if you so happen to put your hands on the person to harm them because of your belief it becomes a hate crime. In its basic form of what is a hate crime Gillis uses the definition so that the reader aware hate crime criteria. Let us take another article for example, In opening of Jesse Larner’s article Hate Crime/Thought Crime he alluded to a situation where two Caucasian men decided to go and attack two African-American with the intent to do some serious harm to them. There were no knowledge as to what was motivated them to do so. One thing for sure according to Larner, Sean Riley Caught up to one of the victims and remorselessly told her “I’m going to kill you, you black bitch”. Without a doubt it is extremely obvious that hatred of a specific race was the driving force behind the gruesome actions posed by the two “men” especially Mr. Sean Riley. There’s no way that the 1st amendment of the United States correlate with the criminal acts that

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

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.

With all things considered, if I were a judge and ultimately had to rule on the constitutionality of hate crime laws, I would most likely rule in favor of them. However, I would definitely hold some of the arguments for hate crime laws in a much higher regard than some of the others made. As we have read in the book, there are quite a couple of different arguments for the creation of hate crime laws. These arguments typically fall under the broad categories of retribution, symbolic effect and deterrence. Overall, the concepts of retribution and symbolic effect can hold their ground in my eyes, however the deterrence argument has been criticized in multiple fields as being rather weak and at times, flawed.

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.

The United States FBI defines hate crimes as “a traditional offense like murder, arson, or vandalism with an added element of bias.” This type of bigotry-driven crime has been a huge issue in the area of politics and justice ever since history began. Such crimes have become increasingly visible over the years due to the advances in technology, and social networking sites that have given a new platform to these issues. As the visibility of hate crime conditions become commonplace, they also become easily identifiable in everyday life. The issue that then arises is that these conditions have not yet become illegal to the degree that they should be held to. Hate crimes should be held at a higher penalty, at the federal level, due to the nature and intent of the crime at hand.

Hate crimes are difficult to fathom, primarily because they involve the unprovoked physical attacking and, sometimes, murder of people based on race and ethnicity. A more formal definition of hate crimes is presented by Shepard (2017, p. 285). As he writes, “a hate crime is a criminal act that is motivated by extreme prejudice,” This is a very good, concise and accurate definition, nevertheless, hate crimes are not the outcome of unimaginable heights of discrimination. Most people have prejudices and many have stereotypes regarding others, whether it be racial or class stereotypes. Nobody is completely lacking in any form, shape or type of prejudice but, the much greater percentage does not physically attack, beat or murder those whom they

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

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.

¨A hate crimes in any crime committed which is motivated by bias or based on the victim’s perceived membership in a specific group.¨(“Hate Crimes”). Hate crimes are the outcome when someone targets a victim based on their race, sexual orientation, religion, and etc… The question that should be asked is why people support it. Hate crimes are inhumane. Even the constitution states that all men are created equal, so what steps have we taken to stop hate crimes and how do we show everyone why it’s wrong. “The FBI investigated what are now called hate crimes

Hate crime generally refers to 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”, (Hall, 2013).