This is not really meant as an article, it was a paper I wrote for some class or another. But it expresses my feelings towards hate crime laws, probably more effectively and more seriously than I could have by just writing an article with the same information. Read this one seriously, it's not supposed to be sarcastic like most of this page. I have to cover soem important issues, and this is one of them for me.
Hate crime has been defined as "any of various crimes when motivated by hostility to the victim as a member of a group (as one based on color, creed, gender, or sexual orientation)." Hate crime laws make crimes based on this hostility towards a group carry harsher penalties then these crimes would incur if they were being committed for different reasons. While on the surface this may sound like a good idea, in truth it is a major problem with the criminal justice system in America.
Hate crime laws can take away our Constitutional equality. They make the crime against someone of a different race, sexual orientation, or gender more serious than a crime against someone of the same racial and sexual background. These laws do not take into consideration the fact that many crimes are not motivated by hatred against a group, but rather by other motivations like greed.
For example, in September of 2000, at Galludet University, two students were allegedly murdered by Joseph Mesa, who later confessed to killing them both for their money. The mainstream media claimed that the killing of Eric Plunkett, one of the students, who was a homosexual activist, had been an example of anti-homosexual hate crime. The media was rather indifferent as to the killing of Benjamin Varner, the other murdered student. If the killing of Plunkett had been tried as a hate crime and the killing of Varner tried as a regular crime, and had Mesa been found guilty on both counts, he would have received a greater sentence for Plunkett�s killing than Varner�s. This would imply that the life of Plunkett is worth more than the life of Varner, because of Plunkett�s homosexuality. Andrea Lafferty sums this situation up nicely: "Justice is not served when some individuals are treated differently than others for the same crime."
A second argument against the passing of hate crime laws is that instead of punishing the crime itself, it punishes the thought behind the crime. Clyde Haberman, who is a columnist for the New York Times, summed up the feelings of hate crime critics like this: "What is really being punished, as they see it, is a criminal's thoughts, however objectionable they may be. The actions - incitement, vandalism, assault, murder - are already against the law." When laws punish us for our thoughts instead of for our actions, they infringe upon our first amendment rights.
If a criminal commits a crime that is punishable by ten years in prison, and then because it is a hate crime the criminal is punished to ten more, those second ten years are obviously punishment for his thoughts and beliefs. Once we realize that it is acceptable to punish those beliefs in conjunction with action, we will soon create laws which punish the thought or belief without the action. This is not as unheard of as one would think, in fact it has happened in Canada, where any verbal or written statement can be punished under Canada�s hate literature/propaganda law.
Another unconstitutional aspect of federal hate crime laws are that they create a double jeopardy. Double Jeopardy is the trial of one person for the same crime more than once, which is banned by the Constitution. These laws state that if a hate crime is committed it is under federal jurisdiction. Thus, the defendant must be tried once for the crime and once for the hate crime, even though it is the same crime. This creates a double jeopardy, which is prevented under the fifth amendment to the constitution.
The most important problem with hate crime laws, however, is that while they do cause these many problems, they do not end hatred. Despite the best efforts of lawmakers, hatred is still growing. Hate crime laws are an unreliable deterrent against anyone who is so consumed in anger that they would attack someone on the basis of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or disability.
Hate crimes are still on the rise, even after the laws passed against them. According to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports on hate crime statistics, between 1995 and 1997 hate crime actually increased. In 1995 there were 7947 hate crimes committed for reasons of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and disability. In 1997 there were 8049, 102 more, hate crimes committed for the same reasons. Hate sites on the Internet have increased as well, from 163 in 1997 to 254 in 1998.
It is obvious after hearing about the injustices that can be created by hate crime laws that something must be done to stop their spread, and to ensure equality and justice throughout our country. By writing letters and e-mails to people in power or by voting for candidates who oppose hate crime laws, any person can help join the fight against hate crime laws.
If you care about hate crime legislature, the best way to try to make a change is to write to people in power. A letter to your Congressperson is an age old tried and true method of affecting change. A new spin has been placed on this by MTV, who�s official anti-hate crime website allows website viewers to send e-mail to the president and vice president of the United States. Sending mail to politicians asking them to vote against the Hate Crime Prevention Act and asking for the repeal of act 18 USC 245, the current hate crime law, could also help the fight against unjust hate crime laws.
Another way to affect change is to send mail to the people who strongly support the passing of hate crime laws, showing them the error of their ways. A good way to do this is to send mail or e-mail directly to anti-hate crime groups, such as the many online anti-hate groups and of course, the MTV anti-hate crime site.
Hate crime laws can also be fought by using the power of the vote. If you vote for officials who push hate crime legislation, you are symbolically approving their actions by voting for them. When choosing a candidate to vote for, make sure their opinions agree with yours on the important matter of hate crime legislation.
Now that you�ve heard about this issue that tears at the very equality that we as Americans face every day, it�s up to you to do something about it. Take the steps suggested, and mail your congressperson or even the president. Hate crime laws must end today, for the freedom and equality of everyone in our country.
--Scuba Steve, written April 27, 2001