How stupid and unconstitutional are hate crime laws?

Very, in my opinion. How can liberals - the alleged defenders of the constitution - support laws which force you to spend extra time in prison for allegedly having thoughts or feelings deep inside of you? A crime is a crime in my opinion - doesn't matter why. In this country of "free speech" how can someone be punished for feelings inside of them? Senseless murder is senseless murder. No matter what the reason is. Doesn't matter if a guy doesn't like gays or doesn't like the shirt someone is wearing. And of course these laws cater only to minorities. Remember when the black basketball player clobbered the white boy and pounded him on the court? No mention of the words hate crime. Or when the older, bigger black boy beat the small white kid on the school bus after teasing him? No mention of hate crime. But, true story, when a local Polish restaraunt was broken into and money was stolen and a few tables knocked over - the media was asking if it was a hate crime. Hysterical.
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OK, I hate the color green. I'm going to kill the first person I see wearing a green shirt today. That's not malice? Weak arguments. When you "act" upon feelings of thoughts, YOU GET CHARGED WITH THE CRIME YOU COMMITTED!!!!!! If I'm thinking of robbing a bank, and then act upon those feelings, I get charged with bank robbery. You people don't understand that?

blktan23

first of all coragraph is a commie dont listen to him.(by telling you this my answer will be deleted so read the rest of it quick)

they are unconsititutional. the act is what matters. if any part of it is constitutional it would not apply to homos because they arenot a protected class. this is really a waste of time and space if my house is burned down because i am an italian or because i slept with this dudes wife does it matter my house was burned down.

I honestly belkeive the way to stop this liberal garbage is to take it to the max. Make being rich a protected class so i robbed him cause i knew he could afford it means more jail time. reverand hymie town goes to jail when he uses interloper comments and then some clown burns downt he store hate crime accomplice never gets out.

phil f

I agree with you completely. The idea that the same crime is different depending on which words are used is insane. What sort of parameters do we as a society set on such laws? If someone beats up a another man because he doesnt like his attitude or political beliefs does he then too fall under Hate Crime laws? And if not why not? The thought process behind the crime cannot be used to set a degree of that crime. Only whether or not there WAS a thought process and planning behind it would factor in.

your mom is a violation notice

because that makes it have malice and forethought, which makes it 1st degree murder, or whatever the crime was, which makes longer jail time.

Christopher B

Let the white race go through 150 years of slavery and then another 100 of oppression where they are murdered for no other reason than the color of their skin and treated like 2nd class citizens and then see what you think. Let's have the government force your parents into the ghettos and mistreat them and see if you don't feel like they owe you something. Get over it and just don't do it. Most of our founding fathers had hoped that slavery would be abolished within their lifetimes. You have freedom of speech which allows people like the KKK to voice their opinion but when that opinion causes them to violently hurt someone, then that is not ok. Hate crimes are just one way that we can right the wrongs. AND LET'S BE HONEST, WHEN ARE WE AS WHITE MALES IN THE USA GOING TO REALIZE THAT WE'RE NOT OPPRESSED. EVEN WITH LAWS TO HELP MINORITIES, WE STILL HAVE SO MANY PRIVILEGES!

â€ Absintheâ€

A hate crime is more than a thought. You're entitled to opinions about people, but when you act upon them and it harms THEIR rights, then you have no right to be doing that.

toneykuhnz

I agree completely with coragryph. A hate-crime is not the simple crime itself, it is an enhancer to that particular crime. When you target a person based on a certain characteristic and not for that person specifically, then you have, in theory, committed that same crime against anyone who carries the same characteristic of the person you committed the crime against. Its more about your "hate" for the characteristic than the crime itself.
Having a thought about committing a crime is one thing, but acting on that thought is another, which is why a hate crimes are important to understand and prosecute differently.
Do some research on what a hate crime and you wouldnt have to ask this question.

xuserx2000

Morally there is no difference between a regular crime and hate crime....but there is a difference.

A regular crime... Say for instance I beat up 5 people at random.... That would not be as bad as the hate crime version....for instance I targeted homeless people and beat up 5 of them. The reason is that the hate crimes create more victims than just the 5 people that were beat up...because it instills fear into a specific group of people.

Hate crimes are crimes against a specific group of people and have the potential to cause panic, fear, and more hate in the greater community.

Also, a persons "feelings" are always a factor in almost every criminal court case... during the proceeding, deliberations, and at last the sentencing. Your state of mind is always a factor.

It's a tool of the socialist left to further ratchet the American people into submission.

A ploy right out of Karl's playbook.

bushcrimeboss

dont you know? when a crimminal stabs an old lady to death he recites "how do I love thee let me count the ways" now thats not a hate crime...see the logic?

yankee fan

it seems like the laws should be backwards. it seems like more black people hate white people than vice versa

open4one

I doubt that a claim they are Unconstitutional would have much traction, but I agree they are stupid.

If something is a "hate crime", then the sentencing is enhanced.

For example, A hits B with a baseball bat. B isn't happy, but A gets charged with Assault and will do time.

Now, if B happens to be in a particular minority, and A shouts an ethnic slur as he swings the bat, A will be charged with a Hate Crime and do more time.

Two problems with this that I see.

One is that A is already committing assault, and obviously doesn't like B. What difference does it make why?

Two, hate is hate, but treated differently under the law. If A were to shout "Death to Haberdashers!" and strike B (a haberdasher), this would not be a "hate crime".

Why not just leave people free to hate each other, and draw the line at physical violence, and not differentiate the motive?

I think they are stupid, but stupidity is not Unconstitutional.

gaelicspawn

Don't you have something else to whine about?

You must be more of a legal scholar than the Supreme Court, which already ruled on this. Sorry. Constitutional.

Live with it.

piegowdealer

There is a fascist term for what you are doing. It is called scapegoating. You are blaming ALL LIBERALS for things that some individualsare doing without offering any proof that the offending School Principal, or District Attorney is actually a LIBERAL.

When will the propaganda stop?

DrDebate

Free speech stops when it risks the safety of another. People who hurt other people not because of what they did but what they are - are sick and need to spend as much time in jail as can be justified because you can't really rehabilitate haters.

I'll admit there is a break down there. Sometimes people kill because the other person is rich and that isn't a hate crime. It's not the best of laws and they are misused, but getting rid of "hate crime laws" is not a good idea.

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