Question
What do you think about the story of Todd Mitchell after reading "Hate Crime Laws: Should We Punish Attitudes as Well as Actions?" on page 253 of your textbook. Do you favor or oppose hate crime laws? Why? (EXPLAIN)!
Thinking Abo e Crime Laws: Should We Punish Attitudes s Well as Actions? About Diversity: Race,Class, and Gen a cool October evening, nineteen-year-old Tod n, was standing with some friends in front apartment complex in Kenosha, Wisconsin. They had just an Mitchel seen the film Mississippi Burning and were Thy hadjust a white man beating a young black boy while he found him guilty ofaggravated battery Instead of the usual two-year four years the motivated by rocial hatred sentence, Mitchell went to ja knelt in prayer. feel hyped up to move on some white people? l. Minutes later, they saw a young white boy waking As this case illustrates, hate crime laws punish a crime more severely f the offender is motivated by bias against some cat- egory of people. Supporters make three arguments in favor of the other side of the street. Mitchell commanded, hate crime legislation. First, as noted in the text discussion crime, the offender's intentions are always important in There goes a white boy: go get him!"Th the youngster,beating him bloody and leaving him in a coma.The attackers took the boy's ten of are always important in weigh- hatred an intention ing ctiminal responsibili ty, so considering is nothing new. Second, victims of hate crimes typically suffer mon the groundgreater injury than victims of crimes with other motives Third, a nis shoes as a trophy. crime motivated by racial or other bias is more harmful because ground Police soon arrested the teenagers and charged them with the beating. Mitchell went to trial as the ringleader, and the uryfor money. it inflames the public mood more than a crime carried out say, Critics counter that while some hate crime cases involve hard- core racism, most are impulsive acts by young people. Even more important, critics maintain, hate crime laws are a threat to First Amendment guarantees of free speech. Hate crime laws allow courts to sentence offenders not just for their actions but also for their attitudes. As the Harvard University law professor Alan Dershowitz cautions, "As much as I hate bigotry, I fear much more the Court attempting to control the minds of its citizens. In short according to critics, hate crime statutes open the door to punish- : :ing beliefs rather than behavior. In 1993, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the sentence handed down to Todd Mitchell. In a unanimous decision, the justices stated that the government should not punish an individuals beliefs. But, they reasoned, a belief is no longer protected when it becomes the motive for a crime What Do You Think? Do you think crimes motivated by hate are more harmful than those motivated by greed? Why or why not? 1. be subject to the same hate crime laws as white people? Why or why not? 2. Do you think minorities such as African Americans should Do you think this example of vandalism shouid be prosecuted as a hate crime? In other 3. Do you favor or oppose hate crime laws? Why? Sources Terry (1993 Sullivan (2002 and Hartocll 0 severe spray painting were just "normal"graffitiz Why or why not? should the punishment be more seve
Explanation / Answer
In such cases, there is always a belief, initially in nascent from, later a full blown attitude of an individual that stems from the individual's experience with the society. Someone who has grown up with prejudices, discimination and biases against him / her is more likely to harbour a malice against whole society to which his / her perpetrators and abusers came from. This becomes a burning desire to take revenge and erupts when an opportunity comes by. For preventing such incidents, a bigger social transformation is necessary instead of punishing individual beliefs and attitudes.
An attitude when it grows to dangerous proportions needs to be tamed, by counselling or by use of force if necessary to prevent the person from commiting even more serious crimes. For example, such attitudes when get fertile soil and nutrition, may grow into something grave like acts of terrorism or worse.
Punishing hate crimes deters others who might be harbouring the same feeling towards a community or group. Still, while keeping the laws as the last resort, efforts to mould the attitudes through softer means should be preferred.
