GOP Hysterical Over Hate Crimes Bill Because It Would Protect Gay People

I think the goal should be that sentences for violent crimes against ANYONE should feel like justice, AKA 'punishy' enough.
 
Socrtease said:
And crimes against people based on their ethnicity, sexual orientation etc, are designed not just to victimize the person against whom the crime was committed but to cause fear and apprehension in all people similarly situated. The Klan didn't burn crosses in a yard just to scare the home owner, it was a warning to all. Lynchings were not meant to just kill the person lynched but to warn all against being in the wrong part of town, sleeping with the wrong color woman, seeking rights. So hate crimes actually victimize more than just the intended victim. Shouldn't they also be punished accordingly?
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I see no objection so long as they are listed as separate crimes. Burning crosses in yards is clearly an ethnically based victimization meant to create terror among an entire group, not just the specific victims.

Now, does that mean that every murder by a white guy of a black guy is a "hate crime"? I think it has to be clear that the crime was intended to strike fear in more than just the victim to increase it to such a larger offense. Shouting invectives during a crime that nobody except the victim and the perpetrator hear? I dunno.

There should be a balance, and a delimiter that is more than just "he was <insert ethnicity here>" and clear intent to victimize others with the crime which makes it into a terrorist act rather than the simple crime.
 
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