Hate Crimes

When a criminal offense includes the element of bias it is regarded as a hate crime. In 1993 the Supreme Court approved penalty enhancement schemes for hate crimes in Wisconsin v. Mitchell. Recognizing these crimes as acts committed against entire communities, 45 U.S. states now impose additional penalties for hate crimes. The Supreme Court and state courts have put important constitutional limits on the enforcement and prosecution of hate crimes statutes, and Congress has repeatedly debated whether to enact a federal hate-crimes law. But lawmakers, courts, and ordinary Americans continue to disagree over which crime victims hate crimes laws should protect. Meanwhile, critics insist that the law should make no distinction between bias crimes and ordinary crimes. ""Hate Crimes, Revised Edition"" provides students and general readers with the resources necessary to define, understand, and research one of the most contentious topics in the United States today. A glossary, appendixes, and a chronology round out this accessible and timely new resource. Coverage includes: a complete background on the incidence of hate crimes; an overview of hate-crime legislation and judicial opinions regarding these laws at both the state and national levels; the public debate over the desirability, constitutionality, and justifiability of penalty enhancement for perpetrators of hate crimes; the public debate over whether hate-crimes laws should protect crime victims based on disability, status as an immigrant, sexual orientation, or gender identity; and extracts from documents such as the FBI Uniform Crime Report (2006), the Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (2007), and the Joint Statement Before the House Committee of the Judiciary Concerning the Jena Six (2007).