NCJ Number
182288
Journal
Prosecutor Volume: 34 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2000 Pages: 31-34
Date Published
March 2000
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This paper critiques the value and effectiveness of hate-crime laws that mandate more severe penalties for offenders who target specified types of individuals and groups for criminal victimization.
Abstract
Giving protection to groups that have suffered from particular abuse -- namely, African-Americans, immigrants, Jews, females, and gays and lesbians -- is possible within the existing criminal law without adding to the definition of a crime some vague notion of ethnic or sexual motive. The first way is to allow judges to take into account the entire circumstances of the crime, including the motives of the offenders, in determining a penalty. This is typically done for almost every offender. This is the stage at which motives ordinarily are assessed under criminal law. Judges must have discretion in this matter. They should not be told in advance that hurting a member of a particular group is more significant than hurting a member of another group, or even that the victim's characteristics are more important than the criminal's background. The second way is to encourage the FBI and equivalent State agencies to put organized hate groups under greater surveillance. However questionable the content of hate crime laws may be, they are not likely to have much effect. Such crimes are not that common. Still, prosecutors will take advantage of hate crime provisions to make a name for themselves in high-profile cases. Defense attorneys will recruit psychologists to "prove" that there was no real hate and will recruit jurors who believe that it is acceptable for a member of one ethnic group to victimize members of another group.