NCJ Number
121938
Journal
Harvard Law Review Volume: 101 Issue: 6 Dated: (April 1988) Pages: 1270-1286
Date Published
1988
Length
17 pages
Annotation
In order to combat racial violence, State legislatures should enact special criminal civil rights legislation relieving the government of the burden of proving racial motivation.
Abstract
The legislative proposal would impose a heavier punishment on interracial crimes than exists for regular intraracial or interminority crimes of physical violence. Under the proposed statute, the prosecution would be required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the victim is a member of a minority race and that the defendant is white. An affirmative defense of no racial motivation would be available to the defendant, requiring him to prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that he did not commit the crime because of racial prejudice. The constitutionality of the proposal is analyzed, with emphasis on its legality under the due process clause and the eighth amendment. The article concludes that because the proposal invokes racial classifications for benign discrimination, it does not violate the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment. 76 footnotes.