Advocates of stiffer penalties for those convicted of so-called “hate crimes” are responding to a legitimate public revulsion against persons who are motivated to attack by their victims’ race, ethnicity, sex, disability, religion or sexual orientation.
So 42 U.S. states and the federal government have now enacted such laws.
But a number of criminologists and other experts warn that these laws represent bad public policy – regardless of how well-intentioned they may be.
less serious crimes.
After all, a killer is still a killer – whether motivated by hate or not. And a death sentence cannot be made harsher than it is.
Source: Jackson Toby (Rutgers University), “Hate-Crime Laws: What’s Not to Like,” Weekly Standard, October 30, 2000.
