Black Woman Army Officer Beaten - DEMAND Hate Crime Charges !!!

[f_m]

Originally Posted by straightfromatown

I think they are (assuming hate crime charges are levied). I looked it up to make sure, and calling someone a terrible name (whether its the n-word or anything else) is not a crime.

Here is the definition again:
"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." Hate itself is not a crime—and the FBI is mindful of protecting freedom of speech and other civil liberties."
Federal Bureau of Investigation - Civil Rights - Hate Crime Overview (http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/civilrights/overview.htm - broken link)

Yelling the n-word is clearly evidence of bias. It's up to the judge/jury in how they consider it. But it is evidence, regardless of how the evidence will be used.

Originally Posted by straightfromatown

I think prejudice is terrible, but I don't think it should be punished. It is a thought or belief and needs to be protected. There are people with radical religious views. We protect those views and only punish people when they commit acts of violence. We do not give them extra punishment because the acts were motivated by religion, and we should not give extra punishment to crimes that are motivated by prejudice.

Again, read the definition. If you look at the definition you see it says religious bias is also considered a hate crime.

I asked if you had much experience with this kind of issue, but you didn't respond, so I assume you have little experience with it. That's probably why you don't really understand.

As long as there are hate groups and people that promote hate of others different than them, there will most likely be "hate crimes" in the legal sense.

[1984vt]

This is the official reason the Christian/Newsom murders weren't considered hate crimes.

"We know from our investigation that the people charged in the case were friends with white people, socialized with white people, dated white people. So not only is there no evidence of social animus, there is evidence to the contrary"

This man should trot out his black friends and say, "See my best friend is black". Do you think it would work?

I agree with many posters that a crime is a crime and it should be treated as such. The guidelines for Hate Crimes are very subjective but, I guess that is the way it is for most laws.

[Quick Enough]

The more crime a person can be charged with, the more can be plea bargained.

[straightfromatown]

Originally Posted by f_m

I asked if you had much experience with this kind of issue, but you didn't respond, so I assume you have little experience with it. That's probably why you don't really understand.

As long as there are hate groups and people that promote hate of others different than them, there will most likely be "hate crimes" in the legal sense.

I'm not arguing the definition of the law, I'm just pointing out why I don't agree with it. It punishes something that is otherwise protected when combined with something that is not. I think the laws were just created so that politicians could gain support from the minorities who would be covered by such laws.

What experience are you talking about? I've never been the victim of a "hate crime" if that's what your asking. I've been called racial slurs plenty of times and I look down on the people who did it, but I don't think they should be punished for it.

I think people who hold prejudice views will be punished by society. They will lose friends and miss out on opportunities. If they commit a crime, it should be punished like any other crime. We don't need to waste time in the courts or jail locking people up for being ignorant.

[solytaire]

Originally Posted by straightfromatown

it punishes something that is otherwise protected when combined with something that is not. I think the laws were just created so that politicians could gain support from the minorities who would be covered by such laws.

I think people who hold prejudice views will be punished by society. They will lose friends and miss out on opportunities. If they commit a crime, it should be punished like any other crime. We don't need to waste time in the courts or jail locking people up for being ignorant.

+1

[Hoarfrost]

Originally Posted by straightfromatown

Calling someone the n-word... not a crime
Beating someone up... crime
Calling someone the n-word while beating them up... not a crime + crime = Hate crime???

Having a lead pipe, not a crime. Assault? Crime. Assaulting someone with a lead pipe? Assault with intent(operative word!) to do grievous bodily harm/Attempted murder.

Originally Posted by straightfromatown

I think people who hold prejudice views will be punished by society. They will lose friends and miss out on opportunities.

Not necessarily. Prejudices are frequently grudgingly tolerated, if not tolerated outright.

For a long time, cocaine and crack, essentially two forms of the same drug, were prosecuted differently because one had a greater negative effect on society than the other.

[f_m]

Originally Posted by straightfromatown

I'm not arguing the definition of the law, I'm just pointing out why I don't agree with it. It punishes something that is otherwise protected when combined with something that is not. I think the laws were just created so that politicians could gain support from the minorities who would be covered by such laws.

That's my point, it doesn't matter what your opinion is of the state of the matter, it is the law. In fact, the system/society does punish people who are not committing crimes. The sex offenders registry requires certain people to provide their whereabouts even if they are not committing crimes, and even if they have already served their jail time for crimes. This is not performed for other types of crimes, but apparently society feels this kind of mindset is dangerous to society and needs to be monitored.