Hate Crimes

Few would argue that a violent attack motivated by negative feelings towards the victim’s race, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation is a hate crime. But should a hate—motivated crime be punished differently than the same crime committed for a different motive? What if the crime is verbal, a slur or a ranting blog post or a graffiti scrawl? These may be hateful, but are they hate crimes? And how should they be punished? Are hate crimes on the rise, or are media attention and greater s...