This Note will focus solely on federal hate crime legislation as it pertains to racially motivated hate crimes. While there is currently federal legislation in place, it should be modified to mandate the charging of hate crimes when sufficient evidence is present to indicate an offense was committed because of racially motivated bias. Part II provides a brief history of hate crimes, hate crime legislation, and the need for hate crime legislation in America. Part III…
It is hard to go one day without seeing some form of hate speech. I see examples of it on social media platforms on a daily basis. People do not think about the negative effects that occurs because of what they said. Moreover, the people who face hate speech may feel angered or frustrated enough that they, too, perpetuate hate speech. People do not care to listen to those who claim hate speech is an issue because they think that the 1st Amendment gives them the right to say anything they want without consequences. The freedom of speech does not mean that you should say negative things to those of a different race or religion.…
A hate crime is an assault or any other crime directed at a person of another race or religion. Hate crimes are usually very brutal and harmful, and victims are not only hurt physically but also are emotionally traumatized and terrified (Fritsch et al, 2015). For others in the community who have similar victim’s characteristic, they may also feel victimized and vulnerable, posing a possible increase in an attempt to retaliate for the original offense. The legislation does not allow individuals to be prosecuted for their hateful thoughts, but instead allows them to be punished for their hateful acts. Thus, willfully inflicting…
Hate crimes happens any and every where, in small and large cities, and every state. As long as hate crimes have been happening the actual name “hate crime” is new and so is the idea of special treatment of these offenses (Gerstenfeld 2010). The first hate crime law was not passed until 1980 and 3 decades later only 44 states, District of Columbia and the federal government have some form of hate crime legislation (Gerstenfeld 2010). In this day and time I find it hard to believe that not all 50 states have some type of hate crime law. Some people do not believe there should be special laws for hate crimes because they say all violent crimes are hateful regardless of race and sexual orientation. Those in favor of hate crime laws argue that there are hate crime laws because; the person who commits a hate crime deserve an increased punishment because these type of crimes are worse than ordinary; hate crime laws will deter the act; and that the laws will show that this type of crime is not allowed (Gerstenfeld 2010). In the US the most frequently reported hate crime is racism against blacks with 3,000 of the 8,000 hate crime reported to the FBI against black people (FBI 2009). In 1990 the Hate Crime Statistics Act was…
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.…
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 type of research for that suitable for analyzing the impact of imprisonment on hate crime offenders is quantitative. Quantitative research is a technique that produces measurable results that can be analyzed statistically, as to where qualitative research produces subjective results that are difficult to quantify.…
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…
Violent crimes directed toward a particular person or toward the members of a group merely because the targets share a discernible racial, ethnic, religious or gender characteristic are known as hate crimes (Siegel & Worrall, 2016). In 1985, the term hate crime was first used by United States Representatives John Conyers and Mario Biaggi, however; hate crime is not of recent development in the United States (Jacobs & Potter, 2000). Some would argue that Native Americans were the first victims of hate crime on American soil. Since then various laws have been made and put into place to protect those who fall victim to these heinous crimes. The first laws against hate crime in history, date all the way back to the American Civil War with the Civil…
Hate crimes occur in jurisdictions nationwide. In some communities, however, they are more prevalent than others. Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the law enforcement community became more keenly attuned to the reality of hate-induced crimes and their impact on victims and…
African Americans have suffered and struggled throughout their history due to a variation of factors. One main factor involved in causing this is due to the racial prejudice and hate crimes perpetrated against them. In the United States, there have been movements and laws to protect these individuals from such acts of hatred; but injustice continues today as it has in past years. Although, hate crimes are against the law, individuals continue to commit hate crimes against African Americans. Hate crimes are "crimes that manifest evidence of prejudice based on race, religion, sexual orientation, or ethnicity, including where appropriate the crimes of murder, non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, aggravated assault, simple assault, intimidation,…
The first law against hate crimes was passed in 1968 as a civil rights act; the law was aimed at protecting people against any attacks based on race, religion or origin. A crime motivated by gender, disability and sexual preference could not be prosecuted as a hate crime until 2009.The FBI says that a hate crime can target either a person or property and can be motivated in whole or in part by biases, meaning offenders can have other motives besides hate. To track attacks such as these, the FBI now collects voluntary reports of hate crimes from local jurisdictions across the country.…
In the year of 2017, we are living in a time were we can communicate on many different platforms (Television, Online, Radio, Podcast, etc.) more than ever had before. The age where people can focus on the words that offend the few and not the masses that gets ingored. As well the age where individuals can easily express their views, whether is it a popular opinion or not. Which is within every American citizen first amendment rights; But what’s the limit when hate speech turns into a hate crime? the three examples I am using are come from the last five years.…
According to the article (Hate crimes are not like other crimes) hate crimes differ from other crimes in that they target a whole community as opposed to just an individual victim hate crime sends a message that an individual and “their kind” will not be tolerated, many times leaving the victim and others in their group feeling isolated, vulnerable and unprotected. In this emotional atmosphere, law enforcement officers and investigators must attend carefully to the ways they interact and communicate with victims, their families and members of the…
Harboring hatred for someone or something may not be illegal, however, committing a crime due to this bias is. Hate crimes are regular crimes committed where the motive is discrimination. Throughout history there have been many criminal acts which today would be classified as a hate crime. People have been victimized by hate crimes for a variety of reasons, such as religion, race, sexual preference or gender.…