‘Should hate crimes be punished more harshly than other crimes? Examine the arguments for and against.’
Crime is defined based on its extremity in nature. Provisions have been put in to place and disciplines are issued to individuals in society who are deemed to have committed any acts considered criminal. A hate crime can be defined as; “Any criminal offence that is perceived, by the victim or any other person, to be impelled by a hostility or prejudice based on a person’s: sexual orientation, gender, race, religion or disability” (report-it.org.uk)
The origin of hate crimes has been noted to date back to past civilizations. Amongst the earliest examples is the Roman Empire, which history as recorded in detail the persecution of various religious groups. Per many historical documents, Christianity was endured by the then Emperor …show more content…
The symbolic nature of the term could become considerably weakened if groups are randomly included and excluded from hate crime laws there has to be a level of consistency and measurement of what does and doesn’t construe as being c lassifed a hate crime and the level of punisment to be delivered, and ensuring that the precendence set is at a balance.
Of the arguments against hate crime legislation, the weakest is that punishing criminals for prejudicial motivation is equivalent to punishing them for their thoughts. Motivations are taken in to account in ordinary legal processes. Motivations are used to determine intent, which in turn affects the outcome of the trial or sentencing process. A basic tenet of our legal system is that mens rea, a guilty mind, must be combined with actus reus, a guilty act, in order for a crime to occur. Criminals choose to act on their thoughts, making their thoughts of relevance to the legal
Crime is defined based on its extremity in nature. Provisions have been put in to place and disciplines are issued to individuals in society who are deemed to have committed any acts considered criminal. A hate crime can be defined as; “Any criminal offence that is perceived, by the victim or any other person, to be impelled by a hostility or prejudice based on a person’s: sexual orientation, gender, race, religion or disability” (report-it.org.uk)
The origin of hate crimes has been noted to date back to past civilizations. Amongst the earliest examples is the Roman Empire, which history as recorded in detail the persecution of various religious groups. Per many historical documents, Christianity was endured by the then Emperor …show more content…
The symbolic nature of the term could become considerably weakened if groups are randomly included and excluded from hate crime laws there has to be a level of consistency and measurement of what does and doesn’t construe as being c lassifed a hate crime and the level of punisment to be delivered, and ensuring that the precendence set is at a balance.
Of the arguments against hate crime legislation, the weakest is that punishing criminals for prejudicial motivation is equivalent to punishing them for their thoughts. Motivations are taken in to account in ordinary legal processes. Motivations are used to determine intent, which in turn affects the outcome of the trial or sentencing process. A basic tenet of our legal system is that mens rea, a guilty mind, must be combined with actus reus, a guilty act, in order for a crime to occur. Criminals choose to act on their thoughts, making their thoughts of relevance to the legal