NCJ Number
136063
Date Published
1991
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Cook County (Illinois) has established a Hate Crimes Prosecution Council in the State's Attorney's Office to develop and implement laws and advise the State's Attorney on the prosecution of hate crimes.
Abstract
The council includes representatives from business, government, law enforcement, religious organizations, and community organizations. The council meets to monitor and review the prosecutors' activities, takes part in prosecutor training, and helps train law enforcement agencies. The council also provides a speaker's bureau to educate the public and provides referral services for victims of hate crimes. The main goal of these activities is to develop community understanding of what a hate crime is in Illinois. The three categories of hate crimes include bias-related noncriminal acts such as harassment and slander, personal or property crimes defined as hate crimes under Illinois law, and other criminal violations in which the motive is hate. In hate crime case, defense attorneys usually argue that the defendant was improperly identified or that the defendant was actually the victim. To counter these defenses successfully, law enforcement personnel must use great care during their initial response and investigation of an alleged hate crime.