Hate Crime Laws

[naughtabell]

When I was in college I did a pretty in depth study of nation wide hate crime laws. This week I was unpacking and found the paper and it got me thinking again.

Generally a person prosecuted and sentenced with committing a hate crime gets a few extra years added onto a sentence.

In my mind I think of cases like Matthew Shepherd. Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson were not charged with hate crimes because no such legislation existed at the time of prosecution in Wyoming. Both men are in prison for life.

Would Hate Crime Legislation have made a difference at the time? They would still have been in prison - for life.

Hate Crime Legislation to me is more to serve and give peace of mind to the general population then it is to actually punish the offender. If a person is found guilty of hate crime it sends a wider message to those who share the characteristics of the victim that certain behaviors will not be tolerated.

With all that said - do you think that Hate Crime Legislation is necessary?

 

[Netzach]

When I was in college I did a pretty in depth study of nation wide hate crime laws. This week I was unpacking and found the paper and it got me thinking again.

Generally a person prosecuted and sentenced with committing a hate crime gets a few extra years added onto a sentence.

In my mind I think of cases like Matthew Shepherd. Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson were not charged with hate crimes because no such legislation existed at the time of prosecution in Wyoming. Both men are in prison for life.

Would Hate Crime Legislation have made a difference at the time? They would still have been in prison - for life.

Hate Crime Legislation to me is more to serve and give peace of mind to the general population then it is to actually punish the offender. If a person is found guilty of hate crime it sends a wider message to those who share the characteristics of the victim that certain behaviors will not be tolerated.

With all that said - do you think that Hate Crime Legislation is necessary?

I don't think it's helpful in its current form, because it overpromises and underdelivers - the "message that this won't be tolerated" is fundamentally a lie. It all too often in reality - is.

It contributes to the myth that people in protected classes get "special" or "extra" anything, without actually fixing any disparities.

 

[Sweetdaisymae]

Over here (Uk) we have a few hate crime laws introduced, most recently disability. This is one I wholeheartedly welcome.
Will it work?
Early days yet, but at least there is now a proper legal deterrent.

 

[Primalex]

With all that said - do you think that Hate Crime Legislation is necessary?

Criminal law is always about intent, not the consequences. If I kill someone, I can leave the court as a free man or end up in the death row - the difference only depends on why I killed someone. Self-defence for example is one of the widely accepted reasons to kill someone else and not get punished for it.

So hate crime legislation merely adds a finer granularity to the intent. Not more - not less. It can't do any magic and I doubt that it changes anything at all - laws don't stop hate, laws are not even very good in stopping criminals. But that's okay, because laws only draw a line for the society. Those who don't care about lines on the floor, for whatever reason, won't care either where the line is.

Adding a finer granularity to the intent - why not? It doesn't actually have any disadvantages, at least none I can think of right now.

 

[Stella_Omega]

I don't think it's helpful in its current form, because it overpromises and underdelivers - the "message that this won't be tolerated" is fundamentally a lie. It all too often in reality - is.

It contributes to the myth that people in protected classes get "special" or "extra" anything, without actually fixing any disparities.

This so much.