Recently released FBI hate-crime statistics for 1999 show that - as many have feared - enforcement of hate-crime laws is skewed against blacks. Of racially-motivated where the offenders race is known, blacks make up 20% of the reported incidents despite representing only 13% of the population as a whole.
posted by mikewas on Feb 16, 2001 - 16 comments

The obvious next step has been taken: An Oregon state senator introduces a bill that will expand the definition of hate crimes to include ecoterrorism and illegal actions motivated by anticapitalism. Block a street, go to jail?
posted by aaron on Feb 13, 2001 - 48 comments

MTV will run a continuous list of hate crime victims' names for 17 hours. Seems like a somewhat empty gesture to me...
posted by owillis on Jan 4, 2001 - 28 comments

Canadian hate crime laws are trying to be applied to filmmakers. Sure they made fake snuff films and there are no victims. So far they have them on an obscenity charge and I thought we had free speech problems.
posted by skallas on Oct 16, 2000 - 5 comments

US Senate approves hate crimes legislation as an amendment to a military spending bill. All of the Democrats (minus Byrd) and thirteen Republicans brought the tally to 57-42. As was recently discussed here, this is a contentious issue, even among those who support some type of increased punitive power based on the perpetrator's state of mind and opinions.
posted by m.polo on Jun 20, 2000 - 3 comments