HATE CRIMES

Hate Crimes: The Need to Apportion Greater Emphasis on the Criminal Motive

From the onset, it would be prudent to note that there is no universal definition for hate crimes. This essentially means that in the past, various definitions have been floated by multiple authors in an attempt to assign meaning to hate crimes. In this text, the definition that the Hate Crime Statistics Act establishes will be embraced. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics BJS (2021), hate crime has been defined by this particular Act as crimes that manifest evidence of prejudice based on race, gender or gender identity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity. This is to say that on this front, it is what the victim is (or is perceived to be) that prompts, inspires, or motivates hate crime. Hate crime could take a wide range of forms including, but not limited to, humiliation, harassment, and degradation. It could also manifest as actual physical violence that may result in serious injury or death. Available data indicates that reported incidences of hate crime have been on the increase in the recent past. For instance, according to the Department of Justice DOJ (2023), nationally, reported hate crime incidents increased 11.6% from 8,210 in 2020 to 9,065 in 2021.

In as far as consequences are concerned, Mellgren, Anderson, and Ivert (2017) are categorical that in comparison to other regular or parallel crimes, hate crimes tend to have repercussions that are more severe. More specifically, as the authors indicate, hate crimes have been found to have more severe consequences than other parallel crimes that were not motivated by the offenders' hostility toward someone because of their real or perceived difference (Mellgren, Anderson, and Ivert, 2017). To a large extent, hate crimes have the unique capability or potential to influence or shape attitudes and behaviors at present and in the future. Thus, their impact could be felt for generations to come. It should further be noted that unlike other kinds of crime, hate crime has an additional element of prejudice against a larger constituency, and not only the targeted individual. Indeed, as Dalton, Lint and Palmer (2010) point out, perpetrators of hate crimes are motivated by the intolerance, hostility, as well as hatred that they harbor against certain categories or groups of people. Thus, in comparison to ordinary crimes, a larger constituency is often hurt by hate crime. It is for this very reason that the criminal motive should carry greater weight than the criminal act on this front. Further, it is also important to note that Lieberman (2010) makes an observation to the effect that very few individual crimes can trigger widespread disturbances that threaten...…victim. It is the intentional selection of victims, the potential for hate crime to shape future attitudes and behaviors, and its potential to trigger social disturbances that make hate crime particularly dangerous. Dalton, Lint and Palmer (2010) capture this perspective best with their assertion to the effect that hate crimes are themselves worse because the perpetrator chooses the victim because of the immutable characteristics that in the past were the basis for major enemy wars (179).

In the final analysis, it would be prudent to note that as this discussion indicates, punishing hate crimes more severely does indeed serve the greater societal good. There is, thus, basis for greater emphasis being placed on the criminal motive as opposed to the criminal act. Lieberman (2010) quotes Sir William Blackstone as having pointed out that it is but reasonable that among crimes of different natures those should be most severely punished, which are the most destructive of the public safety and happiness. As has been demonstrated in this write-up, crimes in which victims are selected based on what they are (or are perceived to be) are particularly odious. This is more so the case if we are consider their real and potential negative impact on not only the victim, but also the society at large. For this reason, there exists a valid reason for hate crimes to be…