Com/156 - Hate Crimes in America

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perceived gender, disability, sexual preference, or gender identity. This act also dropped the 1964 Federal Civil Right Law and 1995 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act prerequisites that required victims to be engaged in activities protected federally (United States Department of Justice, 2009).

Most of the investigation and prosecution of hate crimes are by local and state law enforcement officials. These crimes are not separate and distinguished criminal offenses and each state in the United States defines the criminal activities constituting for hate crimes differently. There are forty-five states in the United States and also the District of Columbia that enacts hate crime penalty-enhancement laws ("Hate Crime Laws — The ADL Approach", 2012). Perpetrator under these laws can face severe penalties if it can be proven by the prosecutor beyond a reasonable doubt that the victim was targeted because of personal characteristics and the perpetrator’s bias against the victim because of that particular person characteristic. Almost every state in the United States have hate crime laws for crimes committed against individuals based on their race, ethnicity, and religion but only 31 states include sexual-based crimes, 26 states include gender-based crimes, nine states include gender identity-based crimes, and 30 states include disability-based crimes ("Hate Crime Laws — The ADL Approach", 2012).

Conclusion

Hate crimes are crimes that have affected the United States for centuries. Many people think that all crimes against a person should be considered a hate crime or that these crimes should not be treated differently from any other crime. Because these crimes are committed against a person or a group of people based on their personal characteristics including race, religion, sexual preference, or ethnicity, there are laws to protect citizens from violent attacks on their lives. There are laws that were develop to protect victims from hate crimes even though not all states protect all victims of hate crimes. For years people endured these crimes which caused them to make drastic changes in their lives such as relocating or obtaining a weapon for protection. Even though the amount of hate groups has increased, the amount of hate crimes has decreased. Knowledge on the criminal justice system dealing with hate crimes can help to explain the history of these crimes and give an insight on who are now targeted by these crimes.

References

Barnes, A., & Ephross, P. (1994). The impact of hate violence on victims: emotional and behavioral responses to attacks. Social Work, 39(3), 247-251

Blazak, R. (2011). Teaching and Learning Guide for: Isn’t Every Crime a Hate Crime? The Case for Hate Crime Laws. Sociology Compass, 5(5), 392-394. doi:10.1111/j.1751-9020.2011.00370.x

Cheng, W., Ickes, W., & Kenworthy, J. B. (2013). The phenomenon of hate crimes in the United States. Journal Of Applied Social Psychology, 43(4), 761-794. doi:10.1111/jasp.12004

Duncan, D. T., & Hatzenbuehler, M. L. (2014). Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Hate Crimes and Suicidality Among a Population-Based Sample of Sexual-Minority Adolescents in Boston. American Journal Of Public Health, 104(2), 272-278. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2013.301424

HATE CRIME LAWS — THE ADL APPROACH. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.adl.org/assets/pdf/combating-hate/Hate-Crimes-Law-The-ADL-Approach.pdf

King, R. D., Messner, S. F., & Baller, R. D. (2009). Contemporary Hate Crimes, Law Enforcement, and the Legacy of Racial Violence. American Sociological Review, 74(2), 291-315.

Shively, M. (2005, June). Study of Literature and Legislation on Hate Crimes in America. National Institute of Justice, (), . Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/210300.pdf

The Federal Bureau of Investigation. (n.d.). Hate crimes add an element of bias to traditional crimes—and the mixture is toxic to our communities.. Retrieved from http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/civilrights/hate_crimes

The Nation’s Premier Civil & Human Rights Coalition. (2014). Hate Crimes in the United States. Retrieved from http://www.civilrights.org/hatecrimes/united-states/