In the last decade of the 20th century, U.S. legislation established harsher penalties for a number of crimes when they are also considered hate crimes. While some claim that hate crimes laws exist because women and certain minorities have been victims and require special protection, others say that they exist because crimes motivated by hate deserve a harsher punishment.
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Hate crime legislation extends this principle by including personal prejudice among the states of mind that can result in an extension of punishment for a criminal action.
Hate crimes are not committed against just one group of people. Hate crimes against all races, genders and sexual orientations have been prosecuted.
It can be difficult to distinguish a hate crime from other crimes. Usually, a hate crime is detected by a background investigation of the accused person or eyewitness reports of the crime. In some cases, circumstantial evidence shows the intent of the accused. For example, handwritten journals might describe the hatred and contain plans for crimes to be committed against the hated group. In other cases, classification of a hate crime is by the judgment of the law enforcement personnel and prosecuting attorney.
It can be much harder convict a "hate crime" than a normal crime. This may affect whether the prosecuting attorney pursues prosecution under the 'hate crime' statute. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation sets forth very strict rules that police and prosecutors across the U.S. use in order to decide whether or not a crime qualifies as a hate crime.
While the hate crime definition used by the FBI for purposes of crime statistics includes sexual orientation, disability and gender as protected categories, this is not the case for all hate crime laws. As of October 2001, the U.S. federal hate crime law (18 U.S.C. 245 (b)(2) (http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18/245.html) passed in 1969) protects religion, race and national origin and applies only if the victim is engaged in one of six protected activities. Seven states have no hate crime laws, twenty states have hate crime laws that do not protect sexual orientation, and twenty-four states have hate crime laws that do include sexual orientation.
Newsmedia may abuse the term "hate crime" to increase sales. The term is also misused by both liberals and conservatives in an effort to inflame voter passions. This can prejudice law enforcement or court proceedings, as well as being inaccurate and misleading.
A generic example of a hate crime would be a criminal that steals money only from females because the criminal hates females. It would not be a hate crime if the criminal stole money only from women because he thought that women were easier targets.
The Southern Poverty Law Center has initiated private prosecutions on behalf of some past and future victims of hate crimes.
See also sexism, misogyny, racism, homophobia, gay-bashing, xenophobia, anti-semitism, discrimination, hate speech
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