After 10-year dispute, expansion of hate crimes law to gays signed »
Posted By Diane_Steward 1 month ago in News
When a gay Wyoming college student was slain in 1998, congressional Democrats pledged to broaden the definition of federal hate crimes by the end of that year to include attacks based on sexual orientation.
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primusdawg1 month ago
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"Hate-Crimes" is an unfortunate name for it but we're stuck with it. What it actually is, is anti-terrorism legislation. Eventually we'll drop all the "categories" that seem to infuriate conservatives, and just federalize crimes intended to intimidate or harm an entire class of persons, because that's what we're talking about here.
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It's not an attempt to criminalize "thought" but rather "intention", and the law does that already. That's why we distinguish between running down a pedestrian accidentally from doing it on purpose. Yes they're dead either way, but the intent calls for different punishment.
Without such legislation, a swastika painted on a Jewish family's home is merely a property crime...(new paint and a small fine: done!); while the intent is to terrorize that family, their friends, and any other Jewish family who might want to move to that neighborhood.
Get the difference? -
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johnnyt1 month ago
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i personally feel that the people that killed mr. shepard should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. their actions show that they have no humanity and should not be shown any mercy, because they showed none.
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i do how ever feel that because something is considered a hate crime that there should be a stronger sentence/punishment. why should we assign a stronger sentence/punishment because someone was killed because they were black, white, asian, latino, homosexual than someone who was kill with the same amount of malice over money, drugs or any other reason?
how can justice be blind when we start assigning punishments based upon the color of skin, ethnic origins or sexual orientations. isnt that why we see lady justice holding a scale blind folded? -
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