Your thoughts on this?
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/06/congress.hatecrimes.ap/index.html
Legislation would have defined attacks on gay individuals as a hate crime
Bill named in honor of Matthew Shepard, a gay man killed in Wyoming
Measure was attached to a defense policy bill
Democrats refused to vote for bill because it provided funds for Iraq war
Does anyone ever do a crime out of love?
Crimes are done out of Hate or Crimes of Passion
2007-12-06 09:22:32 · 17 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Wow...I actually have to agree with you for once. My whole day is ruined.
I don't like the whole idea of giving groups special protection. If the penalty isn't harsh enough, make it more harsh for everyone.
2007-12-06 09:30:01 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
The idea that intent determines the crimes is not new. Manslaughter is not the same thing as 1st or even 2nd degree murder, yet the only difference is intent. So from a legal perspective, defining a crime to be more severe if it is motivated by bigotry is on solid ground.
Crimes motivated by bigotry are a form of terrorism, which is much worse than a simple crime, since the intent is not only to harm an individual, but also to harm an entire group. People who do that pose a bigger threat to society as a whole than do those who commit the same crime without such a motivation.
By the way, there is a Bill being pushed that would prevent legislation from being combined like this. It's called the “Read the Bills Act”, and is being sponsored by an organization known as "Downsize DC". If you want to see an end to this type of combination legislation, tell your representatives to vote for the "Read the Bills Act".
2007-12-06 09:29:34 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 3⤋
I disagree with the whole concept of hate crimes. Murder is murder. If someone thinks the punishment for murder is not harsh enough, then increase the punishment. The idea of a hate crime also creates the problem of thought crime. How can a jury ever truly know if a gay man got beat up because he was gay or because maybe he was a jerk (at least in the mind of the attacker). For instance, in the Matthew Shepard case, both attackers testified they didn't know Shepard was gay, and if they had known, it wouldn't have mattered.
2016-05-21 21:50:20 · answer #3 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think it's about time the Republicans do the same crap the Democrats pull, attach legislation their base wants to legislation they want and tell the gays the Dem's don't really want to pass this bill for you do they? All attacks on a human being are hate crimes.
2007-12-07 01:33:55 · answer #4 · answered by Steel Rain 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They need to reintroduce the bill without attaching it to defense spending. It surely needs to become law but those who oppose pouring any more of our money into the war will not vote for it if it's attached to that kind of waste.
By the way, crimes are committed for many reasons, greed being one of the major ones. To single out someone to commit a crime against based solely on whatever "group" they belong to makes it a hate crime.
2007-12-06 09:30:07 · answer #5 · answered by t_rex_is_mad 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Hate crimes are already illegal as attacking anyone is already defined as assault and battery....separating out a small group and giving them special favor is not legal either...that bill was killed by attaching it to a bill that no one would vote for...that is how congress works...
Congressmen sponsor bills to make themselves look good...then kill them off so they can say "look what those evil people did"...they are all guilty of it...and 99% of the public is unaware...
2007-12-06 09:33:42 · answer #6 · answered by Mikey ~ The Defender of Myrth 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Your not the real crimsonandclover are you? This is a really good question. I don't think it should have been attached to the defense policy bill, it should stand alone. But you are right, hate is hate is hate.
I think the problem lies in the hate that has been bred throughout the USA against anyone that is not white, able bodied, Christian, and straight.
2007-12-06 09:26:21 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 2⤋
That's sad.
It's really no one's fault though, it's just retarded that it was attached to a defense policy bill.
Defense policy is much more important than gay rights.
Hate crimes should have had another bill.
2007-12-06 09:32:14 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
I hate that they try to combine different issues like that. They should have voted on the war-funding thing and the hate crime bill seperately. They don't have a relation to each other, so they should not have been combined.
2007-12-06 09:28:47 · answer #9 · answered by Kharm 6 · 3⤊ 2⤋
hate crime is a politically correct euphemism for attack on your freedom of speech......and taking it away from you....
any crime that deprives anyone of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is a crime....we have enough statutes on the books now to cover crime...
now let Congress get up and deal with a real issue like with a 12% approval rating we are saying ----YOU ARE FIRED!!!!
2007-12-06 09:36:29 · answer #10 · answered by Philip T 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I agree with you and they should have never attached a bill such as that in with defense funding as they are two totally separate issues.
2007-12-06 09:32:17 · answer #11 · answered by genaddt 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋