Given that our society has such a dense population of different races, ethnicities, religions and sexual orientations, it is important to understand both the goals and challenges of policing and dealing with hate and bias crimes. Considering that since the beginning stages of immigration we have tried to support successful assimilation, hate and bias crimes create a huge barrier. Hate and bias crimes “occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her membership in a certain social group, usually defined by race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, gender identity, or political affiliation” (en.wikipedia.org). Not only is it difficult for our society to identify this sort of crime, but it is also extremely hard to enact comprehensive laws governing the way police and society as a whole should handle these crimes. An important problem associated with bias and hate crimes is distinguishing them from other “everyday” crimes; often, the terms are used interchangeably. Law enforcement as well as the general public should understand that bias and hate crimes are in many ways the same crimes that are committed everyday, but that hate and bias crimes are committed intentionally against a person because of a certain bias and are usually much more violent. Furthermore, deciding how offenders should be identified and punished is sometimes problematic “because motivation is subjective, [and] it is often difficult for police officers to determine whether an offense was motivated by bias” (Katz, pg 301)…
The United States of America has a long dark history in terms of racism, from the civil war to World War II minority groups have been the target of crimes of hatred and prejudice. From public lynching, cross burning, arson to vandalism are just some of the tactics used by hate groups to display their prejudice. According to the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) the term hate crime was not used until the 1980s, however investigations conducted by the FBI on hate related crime stretches far back to the First World War, on the group called the Ku Klux Klan attracted their attention. The department of justice defines a hate crime as “Hate crime is the violence of intolerance and bigotry, intended to hurt and intimidate someone because of their race, ethnicity, national origin, religious, sexual orientation, or disability. The purveyors of hate use explosives, arson, weapons, vandalism, physical violence, and verbal threats of violence to instill fear in their victims, leaving them vulnerable to more attacks and feeling alienated, helpless, suspicious and fearful.” Communities such as people of color and LGBT are two groups that had been overwhelming impacted from white supremacist groups and anti-gay group. Crimes motivated by hatred have led to legislation that requires the tracking of statistical data to gather information and…
Hate crimes have and always will be an appalling flaw to society. Yet many people are unaware of the characteristics of a hate crime. Hate crimes are any traditional crime such as arson, murder, invasion of privacy, or vandalism that the victim was selected because of their race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity or religion. Over human beings history, hate crimes have been heavily targeted at several groups, yet the effect on society is always the same, and that is that it changes nothing and is fueled by ignorance and arrogance. We as a society must stop this pattern.…
The earliest example of hate crimes is from the Roman Empire, which persecuted various religious groups. Other examples of hate crimes around the world include the Nazi’s persecution of Jewish people. This included an annihilation of Jews and the creation of death camps. This was known to history as the Holocaust. In recent years, the attempt to obliterate or genocide on an entire racial, religious, or ethnic group has occurred in Rwanda and Bosnia. In the United States, a majority of hate crimes result from prejudiced based on sexual orientation or race. Crimes against these groups take the form of assault, intimidation, and vandalism. The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s statistics have shown that crimes of hate are becoming all too common-place in America.…
The fact that Congress recognizes crimes motivated by bias as more serious than the crime committed alone is not in question. “Congress has passed the Hate Crimes Sentencing Enhancement Act, which increases penalties for some federal crimes when they are motivated by bias.” The debate is whether or not these laws should be applied to the widespread appearance of nooses since 2007, when the treatment of the “Jena 6” received nationwide press coverage. Nooses were hung in a tree at Jena High School in Jena, Louisiana, which caused racial tensions to escalate over the months following August 2006, after the principle was overruled when he recommended expelling the students found responsible for the outrage. A black student was attacked in November by a mob of white students, of which one member of the group was charged with battery and released on probation. In turn, a white student was attacked after taunting the victim of the previous beating. But the black students did not get off so easy. They…
Hate Crimes are a very cantankerous subject but as far back as many can deliberate they have been happening. Whether it be a bombing, a beating or maybe even just a verbal assault on someone because they are Jewish or racial assaults because they are African-American or of colored decent. Even because of sexual preference these things happen.…
|What questions do you have about the topic that you would like to|What is a hate crime?…
Hate crimes are a distinct class of offenses committed towards individuals or groups as a result of their age, race, religion, gender, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. Although we tend to think hate crimes are only committed against, African Americans, during the civil rights era, many Latino/as were subjected to hate crimes as well. Hate crimes have unfavorable effects on the individuals who experience it. As a society, we should be learning more about hate crimes to prevent future hate crimes from taking place. Also, the education of hate crimes can reduce the predominance of the crimes as a result of society being aware of its effects and consequences.…
Hate crime is relative and establishing a universal definition in the context of constantly changing social norms will always be difficult especially due to the subjectivity associated with emotive term ‘hate.’ Generally, what differentiates hate crimes are not the criminal offences attributed to them but the motivation of the perpetrator. Hate crimes are largely acts of violence or intimidation on already stigmatised and marginalised minority communities that portray a message to these communities that they are in some way different and as a result the effects of the crime extend further than the direct participants to the different communities from which both the perpetrator and victim belong5. Perry (2001) refers to them as ‘message’ crimes5. Gerstenfeld (2004) defined hate crimes not where the offender simply hates the victim but are criminal acts that are motivated by the group affiliation of the victim6. The definition provided by the Association of Chief Police Officer’s (ACPO) 2005 Hate Crime Guidelines extended the incidents that can be recorded under hate crime to those motivated by prejudice “any incident…which is perceived by the victim or any other person as being motivated by prejudice or hate.14” Petrosino 2003 adds a notion of…
Wessler, S. (2001). Addressing Hate Crimes. Six Initiatives That Are Enhancing the Efforts of Criminal Justice Practitioners. Hate Crimes Series. Bureau of Justice Assistance Monograph,…
Crimes committed against an individual that were wholly or in part based on the victim’s race, religion, ethnicity or sexual orientation are all classified as hate crimes. Targets of these crimes include, individuals, businesses, or even society as a whole.(fbi.gov) “Hate crime legislation at the federal or state level takes on four specific forms: (1) statutes defining hate crimes as substantive offenses, (2) sentence enhancement, (3) statistics collection, and (4) civil remedies.” (” www.ncjrs.gov”) As part of a larger initiative to combat violent crime, The Hate Crimes Sentencing Enhancement act was put in to place in 1994. The Act requires the United States Sentencing Commission to “promulgate guidelines or amend existing guidelines to…
The available resources for the investigation and prosecution of these crimes are not sufficient to effect meaning change. Many people continue to be unaware of what hate crimes are or fail to the see the seriousness of this issue. Fighting against hate crimes is very important in protecting groups of people from being harassed and hurt. What people can do to help change and stop Hate Crimes from happening around is by setting good examples by showing respect for through actions and by watching what they say to others. People can also raise awareness that bias motivated incidents are crimes and should be reported to law enforcement. There are also ways that High school students can help by starting a conflict resolution in their school. Hate is just not an attack on a person but it’s also an attack on a community. Hate tears society along racial ethnic gender and religion lines. The U.S Department of justice that hate crimes more than any other crime can trigger larger community conflict, civil disturbances and even riots. Hate crime can escalates very quickly. Take for example the smallest hint of hate even what appears to be simply name-calling. The Department of justice again has a warning slurs often escalate to harassment harassment to threats and threats to physical violence. People don’t really understand how important Hate Crime Legislations…
Over the years, hate crimes has been of the biggest issue in the American history. Since the time of colonization human has been victims of hate crime. In most of the cases of hate crimes, victims don’t report this crime because lack of criminalization. Minorities/powerless groups are the most common victims of hate crime and sometimes their rights are not protected as majority group.…
For many years America has encountered different hate crimes. During the twentieth-century the law changed and evolved into a mechanism to protect civil rights. When race protection became the primary focus, the direction of the law changed to protect all races from discrimination. African-Americans were the primary race that was affected by racial violence from the Ku Klux Klan (Perry, 2009). This issue was very devastating and this drew a lot of attention to the Supreme Court. The changes that were made were based off the hate crimes that were present at the moment, so the Supreme Court enhanced the punishments involving hate crimes. This protected many people from being discriminated against and from any acts of racial violence. Restrictions…
“PSYCHOLOGY: A Framework for Everyday Thinking by Scott O. Lilienfeld, Steven Jay Lynn, Laura L.…