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Hate crimes in the U.S.

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Description of U.S. hate crime
legislation, from all viewpoints

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About hate crime legislation:

A hate crime is a crime of violence that is motivated by hatred. Typically, the perpetrator and the victim are strangers to each other.

The rage of the perpetrator is directed both at the victim, and at the group to which the victim belongs. The perpetrator might beat up one person, but the crime was motivated by hatred for everyone who bears some similarity to the victim -- perhaps hatred of all people of the victim's race, religion, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, sexual identity, or disability.

Since the crime is:

bullet

partly directed at the victim's community,

bullet

Involves violence and sometimes death,

bullet

occurs at an unpredictable time and location,

bullet

victimizes a randomly selected person,

some consider it a type of terrorist act.

As HR 1913, a hate crimes bill passed by the federal House in 2009, states: "Such violence disrupts the tranquility and safety of communities and is deeply divisive."

Conflicts over hate crime legislation:

There are three main points of conflict:

Question

Some say: Others say:
Is legislation needed? Yes, because this crime is special. Hatred is directed at an entire community, in addition to the immediate victim. No, because only the immediate victim is violently attacked. Hate crimes should be treated under existing laws as common assaults.
Will hate crime legislation impact freedom of speech? No. Freedom of speech is protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. constitution. The proposed bill targets only crimes of violence. Yes. Pastors might be charged with a hate crime because they simply read anti-gay passages from the Bible after which one of their congregation was motivated to commit violence.
Are hate crimes common? Yes. For one example, about 40% of homosexual adults report physical attacks because of hatred of their perceived sexual orientation. No. Considering the same example, the FBI reports only about 1,300 anti-gay hate crimes per year among 300 million Americans.

Topics in this section:

bulletIntroduction:
bulletQuotations; updating legislation; current status of bills
 
bulletDefinitions; existing laws
 
bulletU.S. hate crime statistics
bulletPhysical attacks motivated by religion or sexual orientation. Data accuracy
 
bulletHate crime law arguments: pro & con. Civil rights concerns about these laws.
 
bulletWill hate crime bills inhibit free speech?
 
bulletIncluding sexual orientation as a protected class

bulletAttempts to pass hate crime bills -- unsuccessful so far
 
bulletTimeline of legislative activity
bulletIn the federal Senate
bulletIn the federal House
In various states

 
bulletYear 2007 effort: House hate-crimes bill H.R. 1592, (Did not become law):
bulletProposed text; support; opposition
bulletExactly who is protected/not protected by the bill?
bullet Quotations by social and religious conservatives
bulletLiberals and conservatives differ on H.R. 1592; who is right?
bulletMarkup activity in the committee and vote in the House
 
bulletYear 2007 activity: Senate hate-crimes bill S 1105, (Did not become law):
bulletProposed text. Bill passes senate, but fails.
bulletSupport and opposition by religious groups
 
bulletYear 2009 activity: House hate-crimes bill << Current activity
bulletA general overview of the bill
bulletHouse activity. Fatal flaw in wording
bulletAttacks by religious & social conservatives:
bulletReaction by conservative religious groups
bulletBased on free speech concerns
 
bulletCalifornia hate-crimes law (2004)

Related topic:

bulletCanadian bill C-250 concerning hate propaganda

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Site navigation:

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 Home > Religious laws > Homosexual laws> Hate > here

 Home page > Religious hatred & conflict > Laws > Hate > here

Copyright © 1999 to 2009 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2009-JUN-28
Author: B.A. Robinson

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