Brian Levin and Jack McDevitt
Special to CNN
America needs a coordinated and multifaceted response to combat the continuing scourge of violent hate crime like the crime committed at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum on June 10.
The Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act, originally introduced by Sen. Edward Kennedy a decade ago and nearly passed during the most recent legislative session, is expected to go before the Senate for a vote soon. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder testified on its behalf Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
It is a crucial step in the nation's evolving response to hate crime. A hate crime occurs when an individual intentionally targets a victim or their property because of his or her actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, disability or sexual orientation.
While some have argued that these kind of laws criminalize free speech, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in the 1993 case, Wisconsin v. Mitchell, that well-drafted hate crime laws are constitutional and do not punish speech. Rather they enhance the penalties only for acts that are already considered crimes.
The act is named for Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old gay college student who was kidnapped, robbed, tortured and left to die, tied to a fence in a remote area outside of Laramie, Wyoming in October 1998. His mother Judy has been a tireless advocate for hate crime laws and victims.
| Cindy |
June 29th, 2009 11:21 am ET Killing or harming someone just because you don't care for their race, religion or what not is just senseless. Way too much of this is happening now and we do need much stiffer laws. I don't see it as hurting anyones right to free speech. You can say all you want that you hate someone it's when you act upon that hate that turns it into a crime that should be punished harshly. Cindy..Ga. |
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| Mike in NYC |
June 29th, 2009 12:44 pm ET Whites are less likely, on an individual basis, to commit "hate" crimes than non-Whites, according to a CNN story a couple of years back. How about doing a study on the correlation between anti-White lyrics in non-White music and non-White on White crime? |
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| Jim, |
June 29th, 2009 1:05 pm ET Until you deal with the Hearts of evil men passing these Laws will be as effective as a milk buckett under a Bull. |
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| D. |
June 29th, 2009 1:17 pm ET Mike, last I checked, non-whites don't have a major organization akin to the KKK. |
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| Nancy |
June 29th, 2009 1:36 pm ET I don't understand the focus on stiffer penalties for hate crimes. For one, aren't the sentences already harsher for premeditation? Isn't someone always attacked because of a bias against them? Why aren't domestic abuse cases considered hate crimes? After, all, it is usually caused by one person in the relationship treating the other like he/she is lesser of a human being because of that person's gender. |
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| Mike in NYC |
June 29th, 2009 2:30 pm ET @D: Last I checked, there was no shortage of racist non-White gangs. You've got KKK on the brain. It's only a "major organization" in the minds of grievance hustlers like the ADL or the SPLC. Most Whites accused of such crimes don’t belong to any organized group. OTOH, racist non-White groups like the LA gangs commit “hate” crimes on pretty much a daily basis. Against each other, I might add. |
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| Maggy Tyger |
June 29th, 2009 3:42 pm ET Free Speech just like anything else, is not absolute. It has it's limitations, and anyone who abuses it with hate crimes, should not be protected by it or be able to claim their right to speech. The hate crimes law, should be given the ability to hold the highest degree of punishment, and the freedom to speech act should be modified and brought up to date. |
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| Vickie |
June 29th, 2009 4:12 pm ET I don't rely care what the statistics say. And, I don't care what demographic is less likely to commit a "hate" crime whether individually or in a group. Not a factor, really. ANYBODY that commits a "hate" crime, whether they be black, white, brown, yellow, or polka-dot, should be punished to the full extent of the law. PERIOD! |
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| reggie |
June 29th, 2009 4:28 pm ET Wait, the vast majority of crimes are "hate" crimes, "love" crimes(given that even exists) are the ones requiring a lot of attention and study. |
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