Tonya Malinowski / News Editor
In the April 1 issue of The Recorder, an opinion piece titled “Bias Crime is Simply a Crime” stated that a crime should be punished solely on the act committed, without consideration of motive.
While the article contained provocative points, it also had some holes. Our judicial system in America is based on carefully considering the circumstance and motive of a crime. In order to seek adequate justice, the jury must be able to consider the past history, psychological state, and intentions of the suspect.In fact, according to the ruling of Furman v Georgia in 1972, “lying in wait, or any other kind of willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing…shall be deemed murder of the first degree”.
The real point is that we, as Americans living in a culture of fear, are too quick to call something a hate crime. Information on the March 6 case is unavailable from the CCSU police department because the case is still under investigation; however, before the investigation had even begun, the incident was labeled a hate crime.
The danger in this hysteria is that it threatens to perpetuate racism and bias far more than attempt to correct it. If a fight occurs between a white male and a Latino male, and the white male leaves the altercation less injured, it is too often immediately called a hate crime, regardless of motive.
We create perceived social boundaries by using inaccurate terminology, which severely impairs our progress toward equality. All instances of violent crime are technically “hate crimes” regardless of the race, gender or sexuality of the people involved, simply because willingness or desire to cause severe physical harm on another must be born out of hate.
According to the FBI, more than half of police agencies in Connecticut reported at least one hate crime in 2007. If we hope to one day truly become a racially colorblind society, the term “hate crime” needs to be used sparsely and under careful scrutiny.
Contrary to the opinion of previous article’s author, a violent crime based solely on the victim’s race, sexuality, etc… is a more severe crime than one rooted in a personal altercation. When a person’s right to exist is targeted, the crime immediately takes on an entirely new facet. The punishment must be more severe or else it threatens our very basic human rights.
We have created such a hypersensitivity to bigotry in this country that it only further perpetuates the stereotypes we are trying so hard to break. A fight between two people of different races, if not solely based on the marginalization of the minority, is just that: a fight. The punishment should always fit the crime, but we should be careful to first determine exactly what that crime is.
