HATE CRIMES

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HATE CRIMES
SUMMER, 2000
PCJCR 3956
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INTRODUCTION
PA. Federal Legislation ltApril 25, 20000 - BHate
Crime legislation sought to BExpand current laws
to include lt lt(a) sexual orientation P (b)
Gender and disability P
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PCurrent legislation allows for prosecution of
crimes motivated by P ltvictim's race, religion,
color or national origin. lt lt lt
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B(2) Majority of hate crimes will continue to be
prosecuted by state B Band local
governments. B B(a) argued for broader federal
laws allowing federal government to assist state
and local governments in their prosecutions.
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WHAT IS HATE CRIME?
AMBIGUOUS
PDifficulty in determining lt(1) what is meant by
prejudice lt lt(2) which prejudices qualify for
inclusion under hate lt crime lt(3) which crimes of
prejudice become hate crimes lt lt(4) link between
the perpetrator's prejudice and the perpetrator's
criminal conduct
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COMPLEXITY OF AHATE CRIME_at_
Correlation to Prejudice
PCriminal conduct motivated by prejudice ltConcept
held by all for against something BIndividuals,
groups, foods, countries BRooted in experiences,
fantasies, irrationality BTraditional, learned
behavior
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PREJUDICE JUSTIFICATION
Pfactually correct observations ltAnti-black vs
pro-white ltBiases against rich, poor drunks, drug
addicts BAbove not necessarily transformed
ordinary crime into hate crime
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PRacial, religious and gender prejudices
officially denounced in our laws PHate crimes
constitute "next generation" effort PFederal and
state legislatures choose which prejudices to
officially condemn ltSome states sexual
orientation included lt lt
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IMPACT OF RACIAL/ETHNIC/RELIGIOUS PREJUDICE
POn average, blacks have worse jobs, income, and
housing than white people? Yes? No? PBlack
respondent 44 percent attributed situation to
discrimination PWhite respondents 21 percent of
white respondents chose discrimination as
cause P P
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PREJUDICE AGAINST WOMEN
Do All Men Hate Women?
PAdam Jukes Author of Why Men Hate Women ltYes,
they do ltMen harbor unconscious prejudice against
women lt
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P"The hatred of women may be, in most cases, a
deeply repressed fact of the male character. At
one extreme is the rapist or the sexual murderer,
at the other extreme is the apparently ordinary
man who does not rape or murder, and feels mild
and hidden...contempt for women, or expresses it
only in the privacy of his own home....."
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PNational Conference of Christian and Jews(now
National Conference) lt55 percent of survey's
respondents believe that Catholics B"want to
impose their own ideas of morality on the larger
society." ltConcluded that this was proof of
widespread anti- Catholic prejudice lt
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PREVALENCE OF HATE CRIMES
Are Hate Crimes Serious?
PJanuary 1996 Hate Crimes Statistics revealed
7,400 hate crimes committed ltNumber reported does
not include those not reported ltAtty. Janet
Reno "hate crimes have long gone under
reported" ltHigher incidence if crimes against
sexual orientation included
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HISTORY OF TOLERANCE
VIDEO
PEquality declared in Constitution belonged to
white men, not men of other races PHate taught to
next generation ltEach generation teaches the
next who the enemy is ltConcept of savages
regarding the Indians ltSystematic injustices
toward African-Americans continued after slavery
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P1913 Campaign by Georgians to convict Leo Frank
for crime he didn't commit PScapegoating
Jews PAttitudes regarding immigrants in 20th and
21st century similar to that expressed 150 years
ago. ltGroup hatred often originates from economic
insecurity ltCultural intolerance prevalent lt lt
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VARIABLE EXHIBITIONS OF HATE
Often Based on Racial Prejudice
PBlack prejudice and hatred of whites, especially
Jews documented (remember film) ltLouis Farrakhann
best known racist and anti-Semitic black leader
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HATE SPEECH AND HATE CRIME ACTS
PJames Byrd and Matthew Shepard (1998) P1999
Columbine High School Shootings P1999 4th of July
weekend racially motivated killings around
Illinois and Indiana P August 1999 LA daycare
shooting spree by Buford Furrow. P P
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PRacially motivated shooting spree by a black man
in Wilkinsburg, PA. P ltLeft two dead and three
wounded, ltBrought to light the fact that hate
crimes do not discriminate.
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INCREASE IN HATE CRIMES
Pthe trend is growing, Pperpetrators are getting
bolder. PKu Klux Klan 1994 Announcement ltDecembe
r 1994 Macedonia Baptist Church in Bloomington,
S.C. ltChurch burned six months later ltArrest of
one revealed he was card carrying member of KKK lt
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R.A.V v CITY OF ST. PAUL
505 U.S. 377
PJune 21, 1990 several teenagers made a crude
cross by taping together broken chair legs. The
cross was then placed inside the fenced yard of a
black family and burned. The family lived across
the street from one of the teenagers (who was the
petitioner in the case). Petitioner was charged
under the St. Paul Bias-Motivated Crime Ordinance
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MINN. LEGIS. CODE 292.02
PWhoever places on public or private property a
symbol, objects appellation, characterizations or
graffiti, including, but not limited to, a
burning cross or Nazi swastika, which one knows
or has reasonable grounds to know arouses anger,
alarm or resentment in others on the basis of
race, color, creed, religion or gender commits
disorderly conduct and shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor.
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PDefendant appealed his conviction arguing that
the law violated his right to free speech.
District court agreed with defendant struck down
the law on two grounds P lt1 Ordinance was
overboard and vague lt lt2. First Amendment
prevented St. Paul from banning cross as a form
of expression. lt
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State appealed to Minnesota Supreme Court
ltState Supreme Court upheld law Ruled BCross
burning not a form of speech deserving First
Amendment protection B BLaw was not overly
broad BApplies only to "fighting
words" B B"Fighting words" words which would
provoke a reasonable person to violence
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U.S. Supreme Court
June 22, 1992
PFirst rule on constitutionality of hate crime
statutes PReversed decision of Minnesota Supreme
Court PUnanimously agreed that law was too
broad PUnconstitutional prohibits permitted
speech based on subjects of the speech P
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SUPREME COURT RULING
R.A.V. v St. Paul
PGeneral Rule First Amendment prevents
government from proscribing speech, expressive
conduct PCourt disagreed regarding why ordinance
should be struck down ltScalia government cannot
regulate fighting words on basis of viewpoint
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Justice White
POrdinance fatally overboard P ltCriminalizes
unprotected expression lt ltCriminalizes expression
protected by the First Amendment lt
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Justice Stevens
ltSignificant that statute regulates only fighting
words ltFighting Words BDetermined in part by
content BDirected at individuals Bso as to "by
their utterance inflict injury" B ltAction crude
form of physical intimidation lt ltMessage of
racial hostility does not automatically endow it
with complete constitutional protection
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WISCONSIN v TODD MITCHELL
508 U.S. 476
PMitchell, a black youth was convicted of beating
a white victim PRacially motivated aggravated
battery normally carried a two-year maximum
sentence PSentence increased because jury found
that Mitchell intentionally selected victim
because of race ltSentence increased to seven
years by Wisconsin Statute P
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MITCHELL CONTD.
PMitchell sentenced to four years'
imprisonment PState Supreme Court invalidated
sentence- enhancement scheme PStatute posed same
overboard threat to speech as R.A.V. P
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MITCHELL CONTD.
PU.S. Supreme Court reversed ltMitchell aimed at
violent conduct unprotected by First
Amendment ltSingles out conduct thought to inflict
greater individual and societal harm ltPenallty
enhancement approach did not violate the First
Amendment BPunished conduct, not speech
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SUPPORT OF INCREASE
Hate Speech Constitutional Violation?
PRacial inferiority planted as an idea that may
have some validity P ltStereotypes ltRejected but
remains embedded in mind
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PSpeech infringing on public order unprotected
constitutional area PBomb threats, incitements to
riot,"fighting words", and obscene phone calls
not protected by first amendment BClose to
category of racist speech B PExisting law insults
which bring men to blows subject to first
amendment exception BRacist speech seen as part
of ordinary jostling BTolerance/accepting BEffect
of dehumanizing racist language often flight
rather than fight B
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HATE CRIMES INCREASING?
Anti-Semitism
PHoaxes? ltOctobeer 1992 actions ltDecember
1992(Rabbi Shaya Apteer,Semitic slurs,Joseph
Fredrick ltCrown Heights activities ltVandalism in
Boroooough Park of New York ltFires in Hartford
Connecticut
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POLITICAL INCLUSION
PRepublican Rich Bond "They are not
America" P PDemocrat Jerry Brown statements,
Vice- President Quayle P PPat Buchanan religious
war
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CURRENT LEGISLATION
PSince 1990, there have been several legislative
moves addressing hate Pcrimes PThe Hate Crimes
Statistics Act of 1990 PViolence Against Women
Act of 1994 PHate Crimes Sentencing Enhancement
Act PChurch Arsons Prevention Act of 1996 P
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HATE CRIMES PREVENTION ACT OF 1999
Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 1999
PSentencing PWhoever, willfully causes bodily
injury to any person or, Pattempts to cause
bodily injury to any person, Pbecause of the
actual or perceived race, color, religion, or
national origin of any personB P
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PThe Violence Against Women Act of 1998 PHate
Crimes Prevention Act of 1999 PIn addition, 42
states have hate crimes laws in effect, 21 of
which Pinclude legislation against acts of
violence based on sexual orientation. P
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