Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

The term hate crimes has been employed since the mid-1980s to identify criminal acts motivated either entirely or in part by the fact or perception that a victim is different from the perpetrator. The term first appeared in newspaper accounts of a 1986 racial incident in the Howard Beach section of New York City, in which a black man was killed while attempting to flee a violent mob of white teenagers, shouting racial slurs. By the early 1990s the hate crime designation was being applied not only to attacks based on race and religion, but also on sexual orientation, national origin, disability status, and gender. In legal terms, the groups protected by hate crime laws differ from state to state. By 2003, 45 states had some form of hate crime statute that covered individuals targeted because of race, religion, or ethnicity; 30 also included disability status or sexual orientation; only 27 protected gender ( Anti-Defamation League 2003 ). In some states a separate statute exists which prohibits hate crime behavior, while in other states the hate crime statute is a “penalty enhancement.” This means that if an existing crime is committed and it is motivated by bias, the penalty on the existing crime may be increased. Finally, a federal hate crimes statute exists, allowing federal prosecution of crimes based on race, color, religion, or national origin for certain constitutionally protected ... log in or subscribe to read full text