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The Pros And Cons Of Hate Crime Laws

1120 Words5 Pages

Pros and Cons of Hate Crime Laws Hate crime laws are defined as a state law that involves threats, harassment, or physical harm and is motivated by prejudice against someone's race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, sexual orientation or physical or mental disability. The 1968 statute made it a crime to use, or threaten to use, force to willfully interfere with any person because of race, color, religion, or national origin and because the person is participating in a federally protected activity, such as public education, employment, jury service, travel, or the enjoyment of public accommodations, or helping another person to do so. However, in 2009, Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. This made it easier to prosecute criminals while also adding in gender, disability, gender identity, or sexual orientation.
There is much debate on whether hate crime laws are a necessity or not. Some arguments against hate crime laws include the fact that …show more content…

Hate crimes do not say they only protect black people, or transgender people. They protect every sexuality. It would not just protect homosexuals or bisexuals, it would also protect heterosexuals. If a crime was committed against a heterosexual, because they were heterosexual, then the hate crime laws would apply to them as well. We are not saying one group of people is more important than another. We are saying that committing a crime against a stranger due to their way of life, and no other reason is worse than committing a crime out of anger or out of disagreement.
In conclusion, there are pros and cons of hate crime laws, however in reality they are a necessity in our criminal justice system. They are equally beneficial to minorities as well as the majority. they equally protect everyone. Hate crimes create a message to the public that these groups of people do matter, and they are protected by

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Comparison Of The Mathew Sheppard And James Byrd Act

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The fact that hate crime is deemed a major problem for a nation makes the Mathew Sheppard and James Byrd act to be implemented at all levels. This act is implemented at the local, state and federal level within a nation. This because the federal. Local, federal and state authorities join forces during investigations and prosecution of these hate crimes to protect the entire nation from violence evolving due to hate among people. Therefore, to mitigate expansion of hate crimes in the nation all authorities are given the power by Mathew Sheppard’s act to prevent hate crimes and prosecuting

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Hate Crime: The Case Of Colin Ferguson

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A hate crime is a violent act against people, property, or organizations because of the group to which they belong or identify with. Hate crimes are committed against many different groups of people. Many hate crimes are based on racial or religious bias. Racial bias is the largest cause of hate crimes. Hate crimes are a specific type of crime committed against individuals or groups because of their race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, age, or

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James Byrd's Racial Controversy

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The U.S. later legalized it in 2009. This act augmented penalties for crimes perpetrated against one’s ethnicity, nationality, language, religion, age, disability, sexual identity, or sexual preference. Today, the Hate Crimes Prevention Act is “effectively recognizing the importance of prosecuting violence motivated by racism or other bias-related crimes” (2). The act serves as evidence of progress towards equality. The government is saying that all men are created equal and should be treated in the same manner, and if one chooses to oppose this proposition, they will encounter strict

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Hate Crimes Are Not Justifiable Essay

618 Words | 3 Pages

-Hate crimes, are not justifiable the reason why is because they’re, ‘bias.’ The definition of a ‘Hate Crime’ on page 604 is defined as “a bias related crime, committed against an individual that is motivated by bias regarding race, color, religion, disability, and sexual orientation.” Committing a crime just because of the color, sexuality, religion, or disability of a person isn’t justifiable. The reason why it’s not justifiable is because, the person committing the hate crime wouldn’t want someone else, to commit such an act towards themself.

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Freedom Of Speech In On Racist Speech By Charles Lawrence

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It would to wrong to assume the use of our freedom of speech has never been used to cause emotional and mental harm to others. Many people are troubled as to what qualifies as hate speech and what does not. Hate speech is the grey line in allowed and not allowed by society. The point to be made is that society has placed a feeling of, frowned upon when hate speech is mentioned. There are many forms for which hate speech can be addressed.

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Hate Speech Should Be Protected Under The First Amendment

1245 Words | 5 Pages

First, there are those who argue that hate speech should be protected under the First Amendment, no matter the circumstance. Stakeholders for this position tend to include Conservative politicians, judges, and lawyers. This group stresses the idea that any individual rights that’s bestowed onto the people by the Constitution should never be tampered with. However, the opposing side are those who believe the First Amendment should not protect hate speech in any circumstances. Those involved in this side of the argument tend to be Democrats, Socialists, few Moderates, and college students.

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Punishments For Hate Crimes

150 Words | 1 Pages

There’s going to be different charges for every case. The charges are going to be different. Punishments for hate crimes are going to depend on the case and how bad the crime is. There is going to be different charges for every case, but it’s going to depend on what the person did and what evidence they find. Steven Sandstorm and Gary Eye, of Kansas City, Missouri were sentenced multiple life sentences because of the “racially- motivated murder of William L. McCay.”

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Arguments Against Hate Crime Laws

1481 Words | 6 Pages

According to Gerstenfeld, hate crimes “may or may not include sexual orientation, gender, national origin, physical or mental disability, age, or political affiliation.” Some argue that every group should be protected by hate crime legislation, but this runs the risk of watering down the significance of such protections. The groups that are most frequently targeted by hate crimes including African Americans, gays and lesbians, Jews, and Muslims should be prioritized over other groups. Historically, the most targeted groups in the United States are African Americans, LGBT community, Jews, and Muslims. These groups are undoubtedly in the most need for protections provided by hate crime laws.

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It also helps those who are afraid to speak out on hate crime or who have no opinionated voice be strong. Legislation allows for certain people to be protected under the law from hate crimes against them regardless of a prejudice. However, the disagreement against this is that if the government focuses too much on those who are afraid and defenseless, than those who wish to banish them have an easier time to criticize them because the government is so focused on making them an example of someone to protect. In effect, this makes them just as vulnerable for the focus being directed

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946 Words | 4 Pages

The offenses caused by these types of crimes can range from simple to aggravated assault, rape, and murder. However, it wasn't until late 1990’s early 2000’s that the federal government began to collect data on the quantity and kind of hate crimes being committed, and by whom. The offenders of these crimes are usually motivated to do them because of personal prejudice that is generated by the thought of people and things being a threat because they’re different. On the other hand, the victims are reluctant to report these crimes because of the fear of retaliation and because of the

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Analysis Of Should Hate Be A Crime By James B. Jacobs

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In this article, Jacobs successfully makes his argument by remaining objective, appealing more toward the ethos and logos of the reader, and limiting emotional language. Jacobs aims his article toward lawmakers and voters. Motives are subjective and based on many factors; therefore, Jacobs argues that basing hate crime off of motive does not only create hardships but also flaws. He continues his argument by looking at rights given to the people from the First Amendment. According to the First Amendment, people possess many freedoms including the freedom of speech; however, Jacobs argues how hate crimes

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Pros And Cons Of Hate Crime Laws

1014 Words | 5 Pages

Hate crimes have been a long-lasting reality in the United States beginning in the nation’s history with eradicating Native American populations, slavery, and xenophobia. As a result, forty-five states have adopted hate crime laws to combat organized hate groups from preying upon the most vulnerable groups in society. Hate crime laws provide special protections to the groups that are most frequently targeted by hate crimes including African Americans, LGBT, Jews, and Muslims. Although there has been much debate over what groups should be protected by hate crime laws, evidently there are groups that have been historically targeted at a much higher rate than others. Hence why most states exclude other groups that are not in as much need for protections in hate crime legislation.

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Hate speech includes, but is not limited to, gesture, conduct, writing, or verbal communication that might encourage discriminatory behavior to a protected individual or group of individuals. Many universities are committed to creating an atmosphere of equal opportunity that harbors talent, creativity and ingenuity. Speech codes are not only justifiable, but are also essential to campuses because they do not allow the use of hate speech. One who is for the use of speech codes on campuses may argue alongside Lawrence in saying that it is unacceptable to use hate speech in any scenario or environment because it suppresses the voices of minorities. Lawrence presents the idea that “the subordinate victims of fighting words are silenced by their relatively powerless position in society.”

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In the recent news, everyone’s heard of the rise in hate crime. Most hate crime is “motivated by racial, sexual, or other prejudice, typically one involving violence,” (Dictionary.com). Hate crimes have spanned across the country and impact thousands of lives each year. The FBI started investigating hate crimes at the turn of the 20th century. The FBI define hate crime as, “criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity,” (FBI).

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Racial and ethnic profiling has become a major controversy in the United States. Lately there has been a lot in the news about police officers profiling African Americans and this has brought peoples attention through the news and social media. A few major current stories about police officers profiling African Americans is the Marlon Brown killing which happened in 2013. Marlon Brown was being pulled over for a seat belt violation and then got out of the vehicle and began running from the cops.

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