Category: hate crimes
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Even assholes deserve justice
And justice was served Monday by a New Jersey judge who sentenced a Rutgers freshman convicted in March of bias intimidation to 30 days in jail. Dharun Ravi faced deportation and 10 years in jail for being a jerk. A question for those who’ve condemned the “lenient” sentence: Had Ravi recorded a hetero roomie having sex would he…
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Today’s must-read
NYTimes columnist Bill Keller puts hate crime laws under the microscope. In most cases, hate crime laws take offenses that would carry more modest sentences — assault, vandalism — and ratchet up the penalty two or three times because we know, or think we know, what evil disposition lurked in the offender’s mind. Then we…
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Racism doesn’t kill people — vigilantes with guns often do
Most people, knowing what’s known about the shooting of Trayvon Martin, would like to see George Zimmerman charged with something — me included. But it would be a miscarriage of justice if Zimmerman was charged with a hate crime, as some experts speculate. Racism, if Zimmerman is guilty of it, is not a crime. Pursuing an…
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The folly of hate crimes legislation
More proof : Three women identified by their lawyers as lesbians were arraigned yesterday on a hate crime charge for allegedly beating a gay man at the Forest Hills T station in an unusual case that experts say exposes the law’s flawed logic. “My guess is that no sane jury would convict them under those circumstances, but…
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Prosecuting hate speech is more dangerous than hate speech
In the UK, it’s against the law to declare homosexuality a sin. Dale McAlpine was charged with causing “harassment, alarm or distress” after a homosexual police community support officer (PCSO) overheard him reciting a number of “sins” referred to in the Bible, including blasphemy, drunkenness and same sex relationships. The 42-year-old Baptist, who has preached…
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