Hate crime laws in the United States
Hate crime laws in the United States protect against hate crimes (also known as bias crimes) motivated by enmity or animus against a protected class. Although state laws vary, current statutes permit federal prosecution of hate crimes committed on the basis of a person's protected characteristics of race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)/FBI, as well as campus security authorities, are required to collect and publish hate crime statistics.
Federal prosecution of hate crimes
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 enacted 18 U.S.C. § 245(b)(2), which permits federal prosecution of anyone who "willingly injures, intimidates or interferes with another person, or attempts to do so, by force because of the other person's race, color, religion or national origin" because of the victim's attempt to engage in one of six types of federally protected activities, such as attending school, patronizing a public place/facility, applying for employment, acting as a juror in a state court or voting.
Persons violating this law face a fine or imprisonment of up to one year, or both. If bodily injury results or if such acts of intimidation involve the use of firearms, explosives or fire, individuals can receive prison terms of up to 10 years, while crimes involving kidnapping, sexual assault, or murder can be punishable by life in prison or the death penalty.[1] U.S. District Courts provide for criminal sanctions only. The Violence Against Women Act of 1994 contained a provision at 42 U.S.C. § 13981 which allowed victims of gender-motivated hate crimes to seek "compensatory and punitive damages, injunctive and declaratory relief, and such other relief as a court may deem appropriate", but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Morrison that the provision is unconstitutional.
Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (1994)
The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, enacted in 28 U.S.C. § 994 note Sec. 280003, requires the United States Sentencing Commission to increase the penalties for hate crimes committed on the basis of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or gender of any person. In 1995, the Sentencing Commission implemented these guidelines, which only apply to federal crimes.[2]
Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act (2009)
On October 28, 2009 President Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, attached to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010, which expanded existing United States federal hate crime law to apply to crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability, and dropped the prerequisite that the victim be engaging in a federally protected activity.
State laws
45 states and the District of Columbia have statutes criminalizing various types of bias-motivated violence or intimidation (the exceptions are Arkansas, Georgia, whose hate crime statute was struck down by the Georgia Supreme Court in 2004,[3] Indiana, South Carolina, and Wyoming). Each of these statutes covers bias on the basis of race, religion, and ethnicity; 32 cover disability; 31 of them cover sexual orientation; 28 cover gender; 16 cover transgender/gender-identity; 13 cover age; 5 cover political affiliation.[4] and 3 along with Washington, D.C. cover homelessness.[5]
31 states and the District of Columbia have statutes creating a civil cause of action, in addition to the criminal penalty, for similar acts.[4]
27 states and the District of Columbia have statutes requiring the state to collect hate crime statistics; 16 of these cover sexual orientation.[4]
3 states and the District of Columbia cover homelessness.[5]
Sexual orientation and gender identity
1983: No LGBT hate crime statute at the state level
1984: California: Sexual orientation covered in hate crime statute[7]
1987: Connecticut: Sexual orientation covered in hate crime statute[8]
1988: Wisconsin: Sexual orientation covered in hate crime statute[9]
1989: Minnesota: Sexual orientation covered in hate crime statute[10]
Nevada: Sexual orientation covered in hate crime statute[11]
Oregon: Sexual orientation covered in hate crime statute[12]
1990: District of Columbia: Sexual orientation and gender identity covered in hate crime statute[13]
New Jersey: Sexual orientation covered in hate crime statute[14]
Vermont: Sexual orientation covered in hate crime statute[15]
1991: Florida: Sexual orientation covered in hate crime statute[16]
Illinois: Sexual orientation covered in hate crime statute[17]
New Hampshire: Sexual orientation covered in hate crime statute[18][19]
1992: Iowa: Sexual orientation covered in hate crime statute[20]
Michigan: Sexual orientation included in hate crime data collection only[21]
1993: Maine: Sexual orientation covered in hate crime statute[22]
Minnesota: Gender identity covered in hate crime statute[23]
Washington: Sexual orientation covered in hate crime statute[24]
1996: Massachusetts: Sexual orientation covered in hate crime statute[25]
1997: Delaware: Sexual orientation covered in hate crime statute[26]
Louisiana: Sexual orientation covered in hate crime statute[27]
Nebraska: Sexual orientation covered in hate crime statute[28]
1998: California: Gender identity covered in hate crime statute[29]
Rhode Island: Sexual orientation covered in hate crime statute[30]
1999: Missouri: Sexual orientation and gender identity covered in hate crime statute[31]
Vermont: Gender identity covered in hate crime statute[15][32]
2000: Indiana: Sexual orientation included in hate crime data collection only[33]
Kentucky: Sexual orientation covered in hate crime statute[34]
New York: Sexual orientation covered in hate crime statute[35][36][37]
Tennessee: Sexual orientation covered in hate crime statute[38]
2001: Texas: Sexual orientation covered in hate crime statute[39]
2002: Kansas: Sexual orientation covered in hate crime statute[40]
Pennsylvania: Sexual orientation and gender identity covered in hate crime statute[41]
Puerto Rico: Sexual orientation and gender identity covered in hate crime statute[42]
2003: Arizona: Sexual orientation covered in hate crime statute[43]
Hawaii: Sexual orientation and gender identity covered in hate crime statute[43]
New Mexico: Sexual orientation and gender identity covered in hate crime statute[43]
2004: Connecticut: Gender identity covered in hate crime statute[43]
2005: Colorado: Sexual orientation and gender identity covered in hate crime statute[43]
Maryland: Sexual orientation and gender identity covered in hate crime statute[43]
2008: New Jersey: Gender identity covered in hate crime statute[43]
Oregon: Gender identity covered in hate crime statute[43]
Pennsylvania: Sexual orientation and gender identity no longer in hate crime statute[44]
2009: Washington: Gender identity covered in hate crime statute[43]
2012: Massachusetts: Gender identity covered in hate crime statute[45]
Rhode Island: Gender identity covered in hate crime statute[46]
2013: Delaware: Gender identity covered in hate crime statute[43]
Nevada: Gender identity covered in hate crime statute[43]
Data collection statutes
Hate Crime Statistics Act of 1990
The Hate Crime Statistics Act of 1990 28 U.S.C. § 534, requires the Attorney General to collect data on crimes committed because of the victim's race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity. The bill was signed into law in 1990 by George H. W. Bush, and was the first federal statute to "recognize and name gay, lesbian and bisexual people."[47] Since 1992, the Department of Justice and the FBI have jointly published an annual report on hate crime statistics.[48]
Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994
In 1994, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act expanded the scope to include crimes based on disability, and the FBI began collecting data on disability bias crimes on January 1, 1997.[49] In 1996, Congress permanently reauthorized the Act.
Campus Hate Crimes Right to Know Act of 1997
The Campus Hate Crimes Right to Know Act of 1997 enacted 20 U.S.C. § 1092(f)(1)(F)(ii), which requires campus security authorities to collect and report data on hate crimes committed on the basis of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or disability. This bill was brought to the forefront by Senator Robert Torricelli.
Prevalence of hate crimes
The DOJ and the FBI have gathered statistics on hate crimes reported to law enforcement since 1992 in accordance with the Hate Crime Statistics Act. The FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services Division has annually published these statistics as part of its Uniform Crime Reporting program. According to these reports, of the over 113,000 hate crimes since 1991, 55% were motivated by racial bias, 17% by religious bias, 14% sexual orientation bias, 14% ethnicity bias, and 1% disability bias.[50]
Bias Motive | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Race | 6,438 | 6,994 | 6,084 | 5,514 | 5,485 | 5,397 | 5,545 | 4,580 | 4,754 | 5,119 | 4,895 | 5,020 | 4,956 | 4,934 | 3,949 | 3,645 | 3,467 | 3,407 | |
Religion | 1,617 | 1,535 | 1,586 | 1,720 | 1,686 | 1,699 | 2,118 | 1,659 | 1,489 | 1,586 | 1,405 | 1,750 | 1,628 | 1,732 | 1,552 | 1,480 | 1,340 | 1,163 | |
Sexual Orientation | 1,347 | 1,281 | 1,401 | 1,488 | 1,558 | 1,558 | 1,664 | 1,513 | 1,479 | 1,482 | 1,213 | 1,472 | 1,512 | 1,706 | 1,528 | 1,572 | 1,376 | 1,402 | |
Ethnicity/National Origin | 1,044 | 1,207 | 1,132 | 956 | 1,040 | 1,216 | 2,634 | 1,409 | 1,326 | 1,254 | 1,228 | 1,305 | 1,347 | 1,226 | 1,122 | 939 | 866 | 794 | |
Disability | unknown | unknown | 12 | 27 | 23 | 36 | 37 | 50 | 43 | 73 | 54 | 95 | 84 | 85 | 48 | 61 | 102 | 92 | |
Single-Bias | 10,446 | 11,017 | 10,215 | 9705 | 9,792 | 9,906 | 11,998 | 9,211 | 9,091 | 9,514 | 8,795 | 9,642 | 9,527 | 9,683 | 8,199 | 7,697 | 7,151 | 6,927 | |
Multiple-Bias | 23 | 22 | 40 | 17 | 10 | 18 | 22 | 11 | 9 | 14 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 16 | 13 | 6 | |
Total | 10,469 | 11,039 | 10,255 | 9,722 | 9,802 | 9,924 | 12,020 | 9,222 | 9,100 | 9,528 | 8,804 | 9,652 | 9,535 | 9,691 | 8,208 | 7,713 | 7,164 | 6,933 |
Notes: The term victim may refer to a person, business, institution, or society as a whole. Though the FBI has collected UCR data since 1992, reports from 1992-1994 are not available on the FBI website. Single-bias victim totals have been calculated for 1995-1998.
Offense type | Hate Crimes | All US Crimes |
---|---|---|
Murder and non-negligent manslaughter | 7 | 16,272 |
Forcible rape | 11 | 89,000 |
Robbery | 145 | 441,855 |
Aggravated assault | 1,025 | 834,885 |
Burglary | 158 | 2,222,196 |
Larceny-theft | 224 | 6,588,873 |
Motor vehicle theft | 26 | 956,846 |
Deliberate attacks on the homeless as hate crimes
Florida, Maine, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. have hate crime laws that include the homeless status of an individual.[5]
A 2007 study found that the number of violent crimes against the homeless is increasing.[53][54] The rate of such documented crimes in 2005 was 30% higher than of those in 1999.[55] 75% of all perpetrators are under the age of 25. Studies and surveys indicate that homeless people have a much higher criminal victimization rate than the non-homeless, but that most incidents never get reported to authorities.
In recent years, largely due to the efforts of the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) and academic researchers the problem of violence against the homeless has gained national attention. The NCH called deliberate attacks against the homeless hate crimes in their report Hate, Violence, and Death on Mainstreet USA (they retain the definition of the American Congress).
The Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino in conjunction with the NCH found that 155 homeless people were killed by non-homeless people in "hate killings", while 76 people were killed in all the other traditional hate crime homicide categories such as race and religion, combined.[54] The CSHE contends that negative and degrading portrayals of the homeless contribute to a climate where violence takes place.
Hate crime laws debate
Penalty-enhancement hate crime laws are traditionally justified on the grounds that, in Chief Justice Rehnquist's words, "this conduct is thought to inflict greater individual and societal harm.... bias-motivated crimes are more likely to provoke retaliatory crimes, inflict distinct emotional harms on their victims, and incite community unrest."[56]
Some people object to penalty-enhancement and federal prosecution laws because they believe they offer preferred protection to certain individuals over others. There is less opposition to data collection statutes.
See also
- Civil Rights Act of 1964
- Civil Rights Act of 1968
- Crime in the United States
- Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007
References
- ↑ "Civil Rights Statutes".
- ↑ "Hate Crime Sentencing Act". Anti-Defamation League. Retrieved 10 December 2009.
- ↑ "Nation In Brief". The Washington Post. 2004-10-26. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 State Hate Crime Laws, Anti-Defamation League, June 2006. Retrieved 2007-05-04;
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Florida among first states to make attacks on homeless hate crimes". Retrieved May 25, 2010. May 18, 2010, Orlando Sentinel, Quote: "Florida becomes only the fourth jurisdiction to make attacks on homeless people a hate crime – behind Maryland, Maine and Washington, D.C."
- ↑ Anti-Defamation League, June 2006. Retrieved 2007-05-04;
- ↑ Direct Democracy and Minority Rights: A Critical Assessment of the Tyranny ...
- ↑ United States of America
- ↑ 1987 Wisconsin Act 348
- ↑ Laws of Minnesota 1989
- ↑ ê1989 Statutes of Nevada, Page 898
- ↑ 1989: Oregon hate crime law that includes sexual orientation
- ↑ United States of America
- ↑ Hate Crimes : Criminal Law & Identity Politics: Criminal Law & Identity Politics
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Mary Bernsten, "The Contradictions of Gay Ethnicity: Forging Identity in Vermont," in David S. Meyer, et al., eds, Social Movements: Identity, Culture, and the State (Oxford University Press, 2002), 96-7, available online, accessed July 12, 2013
- ↑ Florida Hate Crimes Act, 1991 revisions
- ↑ In re B.C. et al., Minors
- ↑ "HB 1299 - Bill Text". Gencourt.state.nh.us. 1991-01-01. Retrieved 2013-12-05.
- ↑ "Docket of HB1299". Gencourt.state.nh.us. Retrieved 2013-12-05.
- ↑ Fair Housing Education
- ↑ Section 28.257a
- ↑ 2011 Maine Revised Statutes TITLE 5: ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES AND SERVICES Chapter 337-B: CIVIL RIGHTS ACT 5 §4684-A. Civil rights
- ↑ DENNIS HOLLINGSWORTH, et al., Petitioners, v. KRISTIN M. PERRY, et al.
- ↑ United States of America
- ↑ Boston Globe: Doris Sue Wong, "Senate Expands Hate-crime Law," June 21, 1996 accessed March 9, 2011
- ↑ CHAPTER 175
- ↑ "Hate Crimes Bill Out Of Committee With 'Sexual Orientation' Intact," May 1997, Ambush Magazine, Accessed December 23, 2013.
- ↑ NEBRASKA PASSES HATE CRIMES LAW
- ↑ BILL NUMBER : A.B. No. 1999
- ↑ § 12-19-38 Hate Crimes Sentencing Act.
- ↑ Hate crimes--provides enhanced penalties for motivational factors in certain crimes--definitions.
- ↑ Wallace Swan, ed., Handbook of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Administration and Policy (Taylor & Francis, 2005), 131, available online, accessed July 12, 2013
- ↑ HOUSE BILL No. 1011
- ↑ Definitions by various groups, State/federal laws.
- ↑ New York State Assembly: S04691, accessed July 26, 2011
- ↑ New York Times: "Pataki Signs Bill Raising Penalties In Hate Crimes", accessed July 26, 2011
- ↑ Buffalo News: "Last year saw progress on issues of gay rights", accessed July 25, 2011
- ↑ United States of America
- ↑ Texas hate crime law has little effect
- ↑ United States of America
- ↑ "National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Applauds Governor Schweiker for Signing Bill Adding Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity To Existing Classes, December 3, 2002". Pennsylvania Expands Hate Crimes Law. National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
- ↑ "Puerto Rican activists demand hate-crime charges amid gay, lesbian and transgender slayings". The Miami Herald. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
- ↑ 43.0 43.1 43.2 43.3 43.4 43.5 43.6 43.7 43.8 43.9 43.10 STATE HATE CRIMES LAWS
- ↑ Jalsevac, John (July 25, 2008). "Pennsylvania Supreme Court Rules that Homosexual ‘Hate Crimes’ Law Violates Pennsylvania Constitutio". LifeSiteNews. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
- ↑ Barusch, M.; Reuben, Catherine E. (May 8, 2012). "Transgender Equal Rights In Massachusetts: Likely Broader Than You Think". Boston Bar Journal. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
- ↑ Rhode Island Hate Crimes Law
- ↑ Hate Crimes Protections Timeline, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Retrieved on 05-04-2007.
- ↑ 48.0 48.1 "Uniform Crime Reports". CJIS. Retrieved 10 December 2009.
- ↑ "Hate crime statistics 1996" (PDF). CJIS. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-07-09. Retrieved 10 December 2009.
- ↑ Abrams, J. House Passes Extended Hate Crimes Bill, Guardian Unlimited, 05-03-2007. Retrieved on 05-03-2007.
- ↑ "Table 2 - Hate Crime Statistics 2008". CJIS. Archived from the original on 2013-05-14. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
- ↑ "Table 1 - Crime in the United States 2008". CJIS. Archived from the original on 2009-09-22. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
- ↑ Lewan, Todd, "Unprovoked Beatings of Homeless Soaring", Associated Press, April 8, 2007.
- ↑ 54.0 54.1 National Coalition for the Homeless, Hate, "Violence, and Death on Main Street USA: A report on Hate Crimes and Violence Against People Experiencing Homelessness, 2006", February 2007.
- ↑ National Coalition for the Homeless: A Dream Denied.
- ↑ Wisconsin v. Mitchell, 508 U.S. 476 (1993).
External links
- Database of hate crime statutes by state, via Anti-Defamation League
- [Hate Crimes Bill S. 1105], detailed information on hate crimes bill.
- "Hate Crime." Oxford Bibliographies Online: Criminology.