Hate crimes free essay sample

What is a hate crime? A crime motivated by racial, sexual, or other prejudice How many hate crimes were recorded by the FBI in its most recent hate crime report? 6,222 According to the Petrosinos article and our text, were there hate crimes before hate crime laws? Give examples and discuss. What is a lynching? How many lynchings are estimated to have taken place in our country? What are some reasons that people were lynched? (www. withoutsanctuary. org) Killing people in mob form. 4,743 lynchings were estimated to happen. Reasons were people blamed blacks for their financial problems after slavery was ended. Whites were lynched for helping blacks. Who was Emmett Till? A 14 year old African American boy, who was murdered after reportedly flirting with a white woman. Her husband beat Till and gouged out one of his eyes then shot him in the head and threw him in a river When and why were the Civil Rights Acts (CRA) passed? Passed in 1964 after John F. We will write a custom essay sample on Hate crimes or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Kennedys speech where he said this country will not be free until all its citizens are free What were the limitations of the CRA in the context of hate crimes? Only applied if the victim of the crime is engaged during one of the six federally protected activities, like voting or an involvement with inner state commerce When were the first hate crime laws passed? In the 1990’s What are the four types of hate crime laws and what do they do? You should be able to discuss each in detail. 1990 – Hate crimes statistics act. Collect data from local law enforcements 1994 – Hate crimes sentencing enhancement act – increase sentencing on hate crime offenders 1994 – Violence against women act – victims of gender based crimes can sue attackers 1997 – Church Arson Prevention Act – increase penalties for damage to places of worship The federal hate crime law, known as the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Act, significantly expands federal jurisdiction over hate crimes and the scope of what is protected under federal law. Explain. The original hate crime law protected people of different race, color, religion, sex or national origin. This act expands current hate crimes law to include violence based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability How are hate crime laws justified in terms of the theories of deterrence, retribution and symbolic messages? Explain the arguments under each theory. Deterrence – These laws will discourage people from committing the crime because of worse penalties. In the offenders mind the risk of worse penalties can outweigh the potential benefits of the crime. Retribution- Hate crime victims suffer more psychologically and emotionally with feelings of humiliation, isolation, and self hatred. Hate crimes tend to be â€Å"excessively brutal† as well so they could have more physical trauma. Symbolic Messages – The laws teach the moral and social norms of the community. Also the punishment declares that in the society the offense is not tolerated so it can make the victims feel better. According to the Henry and the Jacobs/Potter chapters (BB), what are the limitations/challenges/consequences of hate crime laws? The Hate Debate What does the First Amendment protect? protect the freedoms of religion, speech, press, assembly and petition What are â€Å"fighting words† and are they protected by the First Amendment? – Fighting words receive no First Amendment Protection because they are not normally part of any dialogue or exposition of ideas What is motive, and how is it different from intent? From what evidence can motive be inferred? Motive is used to explain why a person acted or refused to act in a certain way. It is the reason why the crime was committed. Intent is the supposed action or purpose of the crime. It is the result of motive, deliberate breaking of the law. What are the challenges faced by legislators in passing laws regulating hate on the internet? What challenges do prosecutors face in fighting hate crime on the internet? What did the Supreme Court rule in: Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire- the Court articulated the fighting words doctrine, a limitation of the First Amendments guarantee of freedom of speech Wisconsin v. Mitchell Wisconsins law that increased the penalty for racially motivated crimes did not violate the First Amendment. Mitchells conviction and increased penalty were constitutional. The Court ruled that a state may consider whether a crime was committed or initially considered due to an intended victims status in a protected class Black v. Virginia Cross-burning can be a criminal offense if the intent to intimidate is proven. How does the 14th Amendment relate to hate crime laws? The 14th amendment guarantees equal protection and hate crime laws give worse penalties to crimes against certain people. Which groups are protected under hate crime statutes? What are the policy implications from the inclusion or exclusion of certain groups? Who was Marc Lepine? A 25 year-old from Montreal, Canada who murdered fourteen women and wounded ten women and four men at a school. He separated the men and women in the room and shot the women. He had often complained about women working in nontraditional jobs Why might a victim fail to report a hate crime? Discuss. They could have poor relations with the police, because they are inhibited by cultural or linguistic factors, or because they are among the people who are the most voiceless in our societies. Also they might not want people to know that they are in the LGBT community. Why might the police fail to report or label a hate crime? Disucss. Police might not report or label a hate crime because they do not want to bring negative media to their town. The town where Matthew Sheppard was murdered is now known for that reason. What challenges are there to the prosecution of hate crime? Proving motive may be easy but proving intent is very hard unless there is specific evidence proving it was a hate crime. What are some of the potentially paradoxical impacts of hate crime? The laws can increase prejudice. The offender could dislike the group he assaulted because if it wasn’t for them none of it would have happened. Also it might make people feel that certain groups are getting special treatment. Hate Crime Targets What happened to James Byrd in Jasper, Texas? He was stopped by three men, two of which were white supremacists in a pickup truck who tied him to the truck with rope and dragged him down the road. He died after hitting his head on an edge. What is anti-Semitism? Prejudice against or hatred of Jews According to Jeffrey Salkin, Regional Director of the ADL, what historical events influence modern stereotypes about Jewish people? What are the definitions of the terms? Gay A homosexual person usually used to describe men but may be used to describe women as well. Lesbian – a homosexual woman Bisexual A homosexual person usually used to describe men but may be used to describe women as well. Heterosexual A person who is emotionally, physically, and/or sexually attracted and committed to the members or a gender or sex that is seen to be the â€Å"opposite† or other than the one with which they identify or are identified. Also called â€Å"straight† Homosexual- A person who is primarily and/or exclusively attracted to members of what they identify as their own sex or gender. A clinical term that originated in the late 1800s. Some avoid the word because it contains the base word â€Å"sex. † The terms â€Å"lesbian, bi and gay† are preferred by many in the LGBT community. Transgender This term has many definitions. It is frequently used as an umbrella term to refer to all people who deviate from their assigned gender at birth or the binary gender system. This includes transsexuals, cross-dressers, gender queers, drag kings, drag queens, two-spirit people, and others. Some transgender people feel they exist not within one of the two standard gender categories, but rather somewhere between, beyond or outside of those two genders. Transsexual A person who, through experiencing an intense, long-term discomfort resulting from feeling the inappropriateness of their assigned gender at birth and discomfort of their body, adapts their gender role and body to reflect and be congruent with their gender identity. How are hate crimes based on sexual orientation different from other hate crimes? There are still 15 states that do not include hate crime laws that do not include sexual orientation. It has been a big debate because people say sexual orientation is a choice and if they include sexual orientation it may open the door for other federal and civil rights. According to the Herek article (BB), what percentage of hate crimes based on sexual orientation are not reported to the police? Why do are many of these crimes unreported? What makes these crimes unique? Who was Matthew Sheppard and what happened to him? McKinney and Henderson who were giving Sheppard, a gay boy, a ride home subsequently drove the car to a remote, rural area and proceeded to rob, pistol-whip, and torture Sheppard, tying him to a fence and leaving him to die because he was gay. What events led up to the genocide in Rwanda? Who were the Hutus and the Tutsis? Describe what happened during the Rwandan genocide. What was the response of the international community? President Juvenal Habyarimana of Rwanda was returning from a summit in Tanzania when a surface-to-air missile shot his plane out of the sky over Rwandas capital city of Kigali. The Hutus were about 90% of Rwanda’s population and Tutsis were about 10%. On August 3, 1993 when Habyarimana signed the Arusha Accords, which weakened the Hutu hold on Rwanda and allowed Tutsis to participate in the government. This greatly upset Hutu extremists. The Hutus extremists went on a mass slaughtering of all Tutsis for 100 days killing about 800,000 people total. The international community refused to acknowledge the genocide and did not do anything to help. They refused to declare that a government guilty of exterminating its citizens would never receive international assistance. Hate Offenders What is the profile of the â€Å"typical† hate offender? Young, white, and male; he does not come form an especially impoverished backround; he has little or no previous contact with the hate criminal justice system; and he does not beling to an organized hate group. Identify and discuss the different types of offender motivations. Give examples. Thrill Seeking Crimes – the most common type. The offender’s, almost always young and in small groups, were just bored and looking for some fun. Not everyone in the group may be bias but the leader usually is. Reactive crimes – the perpetrator is reacting to what he considers to be an intrusion. Some incident triggers an expression of anger. They usually do not go out of their neighborhood to commit these crimes. The victim happened upon them. Mission Crimes- The rarest type, the offender, usually acting alone, seeks to rid the world of a particular kind of people whom he views as evil. Offenders are usually deeply troubled and sometimes even psychotic. Retaliatory Crimes – a person hears a report or rumor of a hate incident against his or her own group and takes revenge by committing a crime against a member of the initial supposed offending group. What is group think? Groups sometimes strive so much to maintain consensus that critical thinking is usually discouraged. Groups of people often make poor decisions, even though the individuals involved may be aware that they are poor decisions and may not have reached the same decisions on their own. Identify and discuss several experiments that illustrate the principle of group think? Zimbardo Stanford mock prison experiment Students were randomly assigned as guards or prisoners to try and realistically replicate the conditions of a real prison. It had to be stopped because the guards were getting very brutal. Milgram shock experiment – An actor scientist had a volunteer shock a person if they did not answer the question correctly (nobody really got shocked). The person would scream when the volunteer shocked them and the teacher would say keep going and they did even though they knew it was wrong. Asch line Experiment – A group actors and one person were in a room and they asked what line was the longest. The actors would all give the wrong answer and the volunteer would go along even though it was an obvious answer. What is prejudice? Making a decision before becoming aware of the relevant facts of a case. An unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason. What is a stereotype? A thought that may be adopted about specific types of individuals or certain ways of doing things, but that belief may or may not accurately reflect reality What is the difference between an in-group and an out-group? An in-group is a social unit an individual belongs to, interacts with, and shares a sense of â€Å"we-ness† with. An out-group, on the other hand, is a social unit or group of people that an individual neither belongs to nor identifies with. What is the role of the family in creating bigotry? Kids often take the role of their father or mother. If at a young age a child’s parents openly express their prejudices the child will often take their same views. Identify and discuss the situational factors identified in class and in the book that contribute to bigotry (groups, economics, social milieu, culture). What is group think? How does that relate to hate crime commission? Why do people join organized hate groups? They usually do not have hatred toward certain groups but they are targeted by organized hate groups and lured into groups. Organized Hate Groups According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, how many hate groups were there in 2012? 1007 Identify and discuss the characteristics shared among all (or most) hate groups? Their viewpoints are bigoted. One of their primary goals is to advance their own interest at the expense of those they oppose. Usually have official membership criteria. They are organized Identify and discuss characteristics of the right wing racial movement and the white resistence movement. Explain the history the KKK as described in our text. After the civil war over and slavery was ended, many white southerners felt threatened. The wealthy feared losing their source of cheap labor. In 1865 the kkk was born. Who was Mulugeta Seraw? He was an Ethiopian student and father who went to the United States to attend college. He was killed in November 1988, at age 28, in Portland, Oregon by three white supremacists Identify and discuss the primary ideologies that are shared by many hate groups. Power – Hate groups are usually dedicated to gaining power, generally at the expense of other groups. White supremacists are concerned with losing their control over others. Racial Separatism Antipathy for the same groups – hate against groups such as Jews, people of color, and immigrants Antipathy for particular beliefs and actions – hate against beliefs or actions such as abortion, political liberalism, feminism. Based on the Blazak article (BB) and our text, describe the process of recruitment into and defection from hate groups. They focus on schools or neighborhoods where there is already some people of their group or where there was some perceived threat to straight, white males like areas where there had been large layoffs, where white students had been victimized by minority gangs, or where multiculturalism had recently been introduced into the curriculum. Then direct attention to individuals who are experiencing strain because of being left out, frustrated, or harassed. They offer programs to to solve their problems in live and offer structure What activities are performed by hate groups? Meetings – speeches, cross lightings, sales of t-shirts, CDs, and more. Music Rallies – get media publicity, reinforce to members that they are actually doing something, and offer opportunity for violence because of counterdemonstrators. Propaganda – fliers, pamphlets, newsletters and more. Internet – Websites that include propaganda Organized Political Activity Socializing What is the role of women in hate groups? There are women in hate groups and even a group called the mothers movement that was racist, anti Semitic, and against WWII. Fighting Hate What is Alport’s contact hypothesis? To reduce prejudice, put members of disparate groups together on equal footing for sufficient periods of time and to provide support for their cooperation in achieving a common goal. What is the Robber Cave experiment? The experimenters arranged for two emergencies to occur (a stuck bus and a broken water supply). The camp counselors then encouraged the rival groups of boys to work together to overcome these emergencies. The boys did so, and hostilities between the groups were greatly decreased. What is the jigsaw classroom? Children in a recently desegregated school in Texas were placed into small, racially integrate groups. Each member was given a unique set of information, and they were going to be tested on all of the info at the end. So they had to rely on their classmates in order to do well on the test. Can laws change bigotry? Why or why not? Laws can change signs of prejudice and, in time, attitudes are likely to follow. The best way to change attitudes is to change behavior first. Discuss the primary goals and approaches of the following organizations in combating hate: Southern Poverty Law Center civil rights organization dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry, and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of society. known for tracking and exposing the activities of hate groups. Documentary films, books, lesson plans and other materials that promote tolerance and respect in our nation’s schools Anti-Defamation League – Eliminate anti-Jewish stereotypes in the media and to combat other forms of anti-Semitism. Tracking extremists both in the us and abroad. Civil rights activism. Simon Wiesenthal Center – Combat hate through education. Opened the museum of tolerance, which has interactive multimedia exhibits on the holocaust and on prejudice in general. National Gay and Lesbian Task Force – Promote the civil rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people. Identify and discuss different models of rehabilitation. Victim-offender mediation – the victim and the offender are brought together, and the victim has the opportunity to describe the harm he or she has experienced and to ask questions, the offender can offer apologies or explanations. The goal is for the parties to reach a mutually acceptable agreement for reconciliation. Counseling or education programs – counseling on topics such as anger management and parenting skills. Listen to speakers from different ethnic and social groups, listen to victims of hate crimes, and learn about the law. Less formal ways – an offender might be ordered to tour a holocaust museum, or listen to a holocaust survivor or hate crime victim. Matched with a mentor of the group they hate. What is the Not In My Town anti-hate program? In a town where there were a lot of hate incidents, several community organizations passed anti-hate resolutions, people participated in pro-tolerance marches and vigils, and local residents donated time and paint to clean up racist graffiti. As described in your text and as discussed in class, identify and discuss the major efforts to fight hate. Are these efforts likely to be effective? Education of youth or the public in general Lobbying for anti-hate laws Monitoring organized hate groups Strengthening law enforcement efforts Public relations campaigns Victim-offender mediation Offender counseling and education Lawsuits against offenders and others