Hate Crimes: A Theoretical Analysis

Great Essays
Hate crimes form one of the greatest threats to the prosperity of society. It thrives off bigotry, aimed at individuals or groups because of their identities.These identities can be: race, religion, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation and disability. As illustrated by statistical figures, many sources assess the major increase in these crimes. As hate crimes are condemned as amoral and unethical, the controversy relates to the definition, legislation, and prosecution surrounding constitutionality and motives of the offenders. Evident hate crimes, current shifts in proposed legislation, and a technological channel for hate speech has sparked caution over the nation, opening the political floor for reformation. The articles …show more content…
He outlines the history of hate crimes and the progressive legislation from allowing such offenses to prohibiting and prosecuting offenders. He addresses the concept of slavery, as it laid the foundation for hate crimes, encouraging racism ( Levine 228). He relies on argument of fact to establish his central claim that slavery, the initiating factor of hate crimes, in conjunction with other historical events, has shaped federal legislation. He supports his claim by evaluating Supreme court decisions in assessing the constitutionality of hate crimes, unitentionally limiting federal jurisdiction. This supports his main claim by illustrating the revolution of juridical rationale, in relation to the social ideologies of the historic time …show more content…
Lieberman is in favor of penalty- enhancement hate crime statutes, which makes its legal for prosecutors to lengthen the extent of an offender’s punishment, based on the circumstance, as Larner is in clear opposition. They both attempt to define the realm in which mental stances and motives can be judged as biased and unconstitutional. Lieberman termed hate crimes as “ very personal with a special emotional and psychological impact on the victim” ( Lieberman and Larner 81). Contrary, Larner believes that “it is the means of delivery, not the message” (Lieberman and Larner 85), that is

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Matthew Shepard Case

    • 862 Words
    • 4 Pages

    On October 6,1998, Matthew Shepard was left to die after accepting a ride home from two Caucasian males who beat and tortured him in Laramie, Wyoming. These two men assumed Matthew Shepard was gay and decided it was their duty to rid him of his existence. The two men who inflicted this gruesome act on Matthew Shepard weren’t prosecuted because of the law from 1969. About 35,000 hate crimes go unreported every year and this is for the LGBT communities alone, (LGBT Foundation, 2015). So many hate crimes go unreported because of fear, even though there is a better law in place called; The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr.…

    • 862 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In “Public Response to Racist Speech: Considering The Victim’s Story” Mari J. Matsuda addresses the topic of hate speech, and the legal rights surrounding it. She argues for the implementation of legal restrictions on hate speech. She makes the theoretical arguments that hate speech can be a causative factor for legitimate harm to individuals; she justifies the need for restrictions on hate speech by citing the various harm that can be conducted by individual that possess such speech. She claims hate speech can cause: psychological effects, internalization which in turn leads to low self-esteem, violence and discrimination, alteration in the mind of others and a feeling of not being protected by a governing body or exclusion from a community.…

    • 847 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The Hate Cries Prevention Act (HPCA) defines hate violence as a violent act committed to a person due his or her gender, race, color, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, and disability. (Iyer, 22) In We Too Sing America, Deepa Iyer states that the multiple “root causes that lead to hate violence” listed earlier are the “racist and xenophobic attitudes and beliefs we hold about one another”. (Iyer, 23) Iyer goes on to affirm that these root causes for hate violence is only reinforced or even exacerbated “by governmental policies, political rhetoric, and media narratives.”…

    • 316 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The relationship between hate crimes and inequality is that hate crimes are often used as a means of continuing the oppression and suppression of minority groups. Hate crimes assert the imagined “dominance” and “control” of the individual who commits them. Hate crimes are meant to instill fear into minority communities while trying to prevent them from working against systems of inequality. Whether committed as a form of “retaliation” or as a means of An example of a hate crime committed in this context would be the Charleston, South Carolina shootings committed by Dylan Roof.…

    • 150 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It is said that 65% of hate crimes go unreported and the offenders go unpunished. More than half of the horrible crimes that happened to individuals due to their disabilities, their race/ethnicity, or gender are pushed aside and the victims are forced to live with the face that their offenders are still out there and not locked up behind bars. Listed above, are not the only types of people and reasons people commit hate crimes. According to the Daily Hearld newspaper, and an article written by Katie Smith on may 9,2017, A man was charged with hate crime after vandalizing and committing burglary not one, but two churches in the town of Wheaton, IL. Religion is something that people have very different opinions about, but usually remains silent about their feelings to avoid conflict and confrontation with people with opposite beliefs.…

    • 847 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Hate Crimes: Typology

    • 1072 Words
    • 5 Pages

    All over the word hate crimes are a problem, people need to become more educated on how hate crimes negatively impact people's lives. If society becomes further educated on the negative emotional and criminal effects of hate crimes, then the overall percentage of hate crimes will decrease. A hate crime is defined as an offense motivated by hatred, bias, or prejudice, based on the race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation of another individual or a group of individuals (Schmalleger, 2015). Hate crimes have always been an issue in America; however, following the terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, hate crimes became more prevalent.…

    • 1072 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Hate crime laws are effective in that they protect the freedoms of the victims as well as prosecute the transgressor. The outrageous violence of hate crimes…

    • 1650 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 Unfortunately, not all laws our leaders pass is perfect. Fortunately for us living in America, we can amend laws to better serve the American people. On October 28, 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.…

    • 562 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Hate Group Downfall

    • 332 Words
    • 2 Pages

    According to Zyad Wright, a researcher in the Social Sciences and Humanities states "examples of ‘hate crimes’ would include racist cross-burnings to incite fear amongst African-Americans, and assaults against gays." (Wright, 57). Both these are top example of hate crimes that has been seen many times. Hate crimes continue to be an important problem in the United States, though as of 2015 all but five states passed various laws punishing hate crimes (Wright, 58). But will this really create a downfall…

    • 332 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    HATE CRIMES Roderick T. Casey II Post University 09 May 2018 A hate crime in defined as any of various crimes such as assault defacement of property When motivated by hostility to the victim as a member of a group such as one based on color, creed, gender or sexual orientation. (Hate Crimes). Sadly, these crimes have occurred in communities throughout the United States for centuries.…

    • 719 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Hate crimes are something that are carried out on a daily basis, and have been all throughout our history, even though the term “hate crime” was not established until the 1980s (The Federal Bureau of Investigation). Historically this has included bias crimes against Blacks, Jews, Native Americans and essentially every new immigrant group that has entered the United States in mass numbers. It is something that has no boarders and is happening all over the world. Hate crimes, are “acts of bigotry directed towards marginalized and vulnerable communities [which] are part of our historical fabric, rooted in the widespread and often culturally accepted demonization of the Other…”(Chakraborti 2010: 1). These acts can target or be motivated by an individual’s…

    • 1620 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Did you know that only 7,121 people and 5,818 incidents make up the 3% of hate crimes that are reported? SIRS data base reports that a hate crime is defined as a crime that targets an individual, group, or organization because a real or perceived difference in race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or national origin. Despite the many hate groups in America, the government promotes tolerance through legislation and education. The Matthew Shepard Act signed by Obama in 2009 was an expansion of federal jurisdiction over hate crimes. This paper will examine viewpoint one, two, and my viewpoint on is there a need for hate crime legislation.…

    • 1416 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Hate Crimes In America

    • 1101 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Many various individuals can be affected by hate crimes. The researcher will talk about hate crimes based on religion. The United States is considered one of the most immigrant friendly nations in the world. Individuals who vary in ethnicity and as well religion have worked side by side, and lived together in this country. Unfortunately in the past few centuries, it has become more apparent that different groups have been discriminated against.…

    • 1101 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Summary of “In Defense of Prejudice” In the United States, it can be seen almost anywhere that societies are becoming more and more conscious of the words they use to describe people, in the case of accidentally offending someone. However, when some words are determined as being “hate-speech” and are deemed criminal, the notion of free speech begins to be altered. With certain words now being treated as legitimate violence against another, where does one draw the line when considering one’s constitutional right to free speech, even when that person is obviously prejudiced? In Jonathan Rauch’s essay, “In Defense of Prejudice”, he argues that instead of eradicating all forms of prejudice in the United States,…

    • 407 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A hate crime is an offense, usually violent, motivated by the prejudice of one specific status a single individual holds, i.e., sexual orientation, religion, gender, ethnicity, ect. These crimes are driven simply because of the hatred one person feels towards another. An individual is targeted because of something about themselves a single person or group of people do not approve of. Hate crimes are the highest priority of the FBI’s Civil Rights program and each year an estimated 1,200 crimes are reported, however, the number is most likely higher due to underreported cases. In 2012, an astonishing 5,796 were committed.…

    • 1239 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays