Hate Crime Laws Essay - 1378 Words

Imagine you are a family member of a man who was chained up to the back of a pickup truck and drug along a gravel road for two miles until he was dead. Then imagine how you would feel after you found out that this happened just because he was a black man. Things like this sicken me. I believe that the people that are responsible for these horrific crimes should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. That is why I strongly support hate crime laws. Now, before I dive into this very controversial subject, I should probably define what hate crime laws are so you will have a better understanding of what I am talking about. As I have understood it, hate crime laws are laws that protect certain minorities or groups from†¦show more content†¦While reading through Issues and Controversies on file I also found out that some of the â€Å"policy makers† believe that all crimes are committed with some form of hate in mind. They say that if this is true then hate crime laws are â€Å"therefore redundant and unnecessary.† These people believe that all crimes are already fully punishable â€Å"regardless of why they were committed†(506). In response to these comments, I can see where some of theses people are coming from. For instance many of these experts that I read about said that it is just the minorities that get the protection from bias motivated crimes. This is really not completely true. In Elena Grigera’s article she says that â€Å"it is important to keep in mind that, while hate crime legislation is often viewed as a vehicle of protection for such minority groups as blacks and Jews, such laws also protect the white majority from bias-motivated violence†(2). These people seem to think that it is just the minorities that can become victims of these hate crimes, but in reality that is not the case at all. A white heterosexual male can just as easily become a victim of a hate crime as a black heterosexual male can. For example in the Wisconsin v. Mitchell case in 1993 a group of â€Å"black youths severely beat a schoolboy† because he was white. â€Å"The youths received enhanced p rison sentences† under the state hate crime laws (Hate-Crime 512). This is only one of the manyShow MoreRelatedHate Crimes Laws And Hate Crime1543 Words   |  7 PagesHate Crimes What is a hate crime? Although the definition can vary based on what groups are included (Cogan, 2006, p. 174) the simplest definition would be, violence against a person or group of people based on their gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, race or disability (Burgess, Regehr, Roberts, 2013). Hate Crimes do not just effect the victim but also the community. Those who become victims of hate crime are not chosen at random, it is because of the group they identify with orRead MoreEssay on Hate Crime Laws1959 Words   |  8 Pagessentenced ring leader John King to death by lethal injection (â€Å"Man Executed for Dragging Death of James Byrd†). While this particular case may give the appearance that perpetrators of hate crimes receive appropriate punishment, almost a decade later, one particular case demonstrates the inequity in the application of hate crime punishments: In 2007, Sean Kennedy of Charleston, South Carolina, left a bar around 3:45 am and was confron ted by Stephen Moller, who called him a â€Å"faggot† and then punched himRead MoreHate Crimes And The Response Of Law Enforcement Officers Essay1370 Words   |  6 PagesThe phrase â€Å"Hate Crime† rose to prominence in the 1980s, in an attempt to describe crimes against someone based on their race or religion. These crimes were motivated, at least in part and sometimes in entirety, by bias against African Americans and Jews. Since that time, the term has expanded to include illegal acts against a person, organization, and their property based on the criminal’s bias against the victim’s minority class. These minority classes include race and ethnicity, sexual orientationRead MoreEssay about Hate Crime Victimization1642 Words   |  7 Pagesof murders, assaults, and acts of vandalism and desecration were fueled by bigotry† (Karmen, 2013, p. 350). Hate crime victimization is a very prevalent and serious issue that exists amongst our society today that is often used to demonstrate a form of hate towards a particular group of people; primarily minority groups. â€Å"Although each state employs a different definition of hate crime, most statutes include groups singled out on the basis of race (such as African Americans or Asian Americans)Read MoreThe Reasons behind Homosexual Discrimination1214 Words   |  5 Pagesa total of 17 states have legalized gay marriage, 16 states allow joint gay adoptions, and 17 states, in addition to the District of Columbia, have prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity (Maps of State Laws Policies). 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Currently, forty states and the District of Columbia have passed hate crime laws. Those laws ban any crime connected to bias based on gender, race, origin, sexual orientation, disability, or religion. Only nineteen of those states, however, have laws that include gender, twenty have laws protecting the disabled and twenty-one have sexual orientation laws. Florida has someRead MoreIn Many Cities Throughout the United States, the Prevalence of Hate Crimes Has Increased. You Have Been Asked to Provide Your Insight Into This and Recommend Ways to Decrease the Occurrence of These Types of Crimes.696 Words   |  3 PagesHate Crimes NAME SSCI210-1101B-08: Sociology American Intercontinental University Abstract Prejudice can lead to many things. Hate crimes are something every individual has to be concerned with. Targets are not always based on race, but based on social class. Hate crimes are not always an uncontrollable or random act. Race motivated crimes occur when an ethnically or racially person starts to see a migration of people with different ethnic or racial backgrounds. Social class hate crimes occurRead MorePsychological Effects Of Hate Crimes1335 Words   |  6 Pagesimpacted by hate crimes can be informed by psychological research. For example, are hate crimes more harmful than other kinds of crime? Why do people commit hate crimes? What can be done to prevent or lessen the impact of hate and bias-motivated crimes? Social scientific research is beginning to yield information on the nature of crimes committed because of real or perceived differences in race, religion, ethnicity or national origin, sexual orientation, disability, or gender. Current federal law definesRead MoreH ate Crimes in New Jersey Essay examples1310 Words   |  6 PagesHate Crimes in New Jersey ...Until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream. These powerful words were uttered by Martin Luther King in the midst of the racial unrest in the 1960s. During this time period many people of the black race were affected with discrimination of all sorts. Now-a-days, crimes once driven solely by hatred for ones race now stem from opposition to ones religion, gender, disability, or sexual orientation. In a study done in 2009 by findthedata