We had a thread on hate crimes a few years ago. I asked what folks thought about them, particularly the legal angle.
I don't know. Firing someone sucks. firing someone _because_ of their race, ability, gender, sexual orienation ... shouldn't that get punished with a stiffer fine? Why not make people who beat a transman up pay a higher price for beating him up _because _ he's a transman? Why not make the alleged Duke University rapists endure a longer sentence, if convicted, _because_ they didn't just rape her but made her her endure racist epithets and may _in fact_ have raped her because, in the jock, upper class male mind, black women simply can't be raped by virtue of their race. (that is, any pretense to her not wanting sex would be just that, a pretense. By definition. black female sexuality is animalistic in nature and she can't say no because she's an animal that wants it all the time. Move along, there is no rape here.)
i don't see why people who murder, rape, beat, and rob shouldn't be punished more if, indeed, they commit the acts because someone is a member of a group they despise and think is less than human
finally, i don't see why it should be ridiculed -- hate crimes legislation. imagine spending your life living every single day knowing that there are some people out there who'd like to see your entire "race" or "kind" snuffed out. that's what it's like for blacks in this county. that's what it's like for gays. there are groups dedicated to the causes of seeing to it that your lives are snuffed out one way or another.
Bitch | Lab http://blog.pulpculture.org