Hate Crimes Criminal Law & Identity Politics doc

[...]... passage of hate crime laws in terms of symbolic politics and, more important, identity politics Who are the lobbyists for and against these laws? What arguments do they make? Why are these laws so popular with politicians? Chapter 6 critiques the legal, philosophical, and social science rationales for hate crime laws These justifications for hate crime laws include (1) greater culpability of hate crime... Even white males now portray themselves as victims The new hate crime laws extend identity politics to the domain of crime and punishment In effect, they redefine the crime problem as yet another arena for conflict between races, genders, and nationality groups 6 Hate Crimes: Criminal Law and Identity Politics We are certainly not saying that crimes motivated by bigotry do not occur There is a long... however, believe that these statistics will dramatize and draw attention to "the problem." But what problem? How many hate crimes (or how high a hate 8 Hate Crimes: Criminal Law and Identity Politics crime rate) does it take to constitute a problem, much less an epidemic? Should we regard hate crimes as an indicator of something other than the activities of a small number of deviant bigots? Should we regard... component to our criminal law lexicon and to our way of thinking about the crime problem Consequently, we now (or will soon) find it natural to think of the hate crime problem and the hate crime rate as distinct from the "ordinary" crime problem and the "ordinary" crime rate This reconceptualization 3 4 Hate Crimes: Criminal Law and Identity Politics of crime is both reflected by and furthered by hate crime... emotional harm to hate crime victims; (3) more severe impact on the community; (4) greater potential to trigger retaliation and intergroup conflict; and (5) greater need for deterrence Chapter 7 deals with the enforcement of the hate crime laws What problems do police departments and prosecutors face? What can police 10 Hate Crimes: Criminal Law and Identity Politics and prosecutorial hate crime units... strain of criminal trials focused on determining prejudice? Chapter 8 takes up the question of the constitutionality of hate crime laws Do these laws, like hate speech laws, in effect prescribe punishment for improper opinions? Are they distinguishable from hate speech laws that have run into serious First Amendment problems? Chapter 9 speculates about the societal consequences of importing identity politics. .. wall be counted as a hate crime, or should it only count as hate crime if the graffiti is directed at an individual, institution, or place identified with a particular group (e.g., anti-homosexual graffiti on a gay 22 Hate Crimes: Criminal Law and Identity Politics man's home, anti-homosexual vandalism on an AIDS center, or antiSemitic graffiti in a Jewish cemetery)? Should hate crimes include the use... assisted suicide.20 16 Hate Crimes: Criminal Law and Identity Politics If practically everyone holds some prejudiced values, beliefs, and attitudes, every crime by a member of one group against a member of another group might be a hate crime; at least it ought to be investigated as such Moreover, since criminals, as a group, are surely less tolerant and respectful of others than noncriminals, they are... under the hate crime umbrella, especially in light of the extent to which women as a group are victimized by men Indeed, crimes against women would seem to be the most obvious candidate for recognition as hate crime For women, crime is overwhelmingly an intergroup phenomenon In 1994, women reported approximately 500,000 rapes and sexual assaults, 20 Hate Crimes: Criminal Law and Identity Politics almost... increase in hate crimes directed at homosexuals, resulting in "the universal victimization of lesbian, gay and bisexual people."4 The Guide to Legal Periodicals lists 86 law review articles (published between 1993 and 1995) dealing with hate crimes The passage of hate crime laws by the federal government and a majority of states since the mid-1980s did not occur because of a lacuna in the criminal law, or . Hawkins Hate Crimes: Criminal Law and Identity Politics James B. Jacobs and Kimberly Potter Hate Crimes Criminal Law & Identity Politics JAMES . to "the prob- lem." But what problem? How many hate crimes (or how high a hate 8 Hate Crimes: Criminal Law and Identity Politics crime