Argumentative Essay: Do Hate Crime Laws Really Help
707 Words3 Pages
Do Hate Crime Laws Really Help
Imagine walking home one day and being attacked due to race. That is what happened to 49 year old James Byrd Jr. James was walking home one day after work and was offered a ride home by three men who took him to desolated road, where he was beaten mercilessly and drug by his ankles to his demise. This horrific crime is only one of the crimes that led to the Hate Crime Prevention Act in 2009 (“In Tribute & In Memory; James Byrd Jr.”). Due to the attack people saw that maybe there needed to be something done, but doing so would cause there to be positive and negative feedback. So, to determine if hate crime laws are effective we need to know what hate laws are, and whether or not they are effective.
People have probably heard of a hate crime but not known either what a hate crime was or why it was considered a hate crime. Hate crimes have been around for many years but were not really recognized until the early 1980’s (“Background on Hate Crimes”). A hate crime is any crime committed with a bias motive meaning the person who committed the crime had something against a person or group characteristic. The usual bias motives are religion, race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, and sexual…show more content… Many of the arguments that people who are against the law state that they get there freedom of speech infringed on. Another one of the arguments against it is that it causes the law to unfairly be punished differently (“Hate Crime Law Arguments Pro & Con. Civil Rights Concerns about These Laws”). For example if a person with no bias reasoning was to assault someone they may just receive a fine, when on the other hand the person with the bias motive would have a more severe penalty. To many this is seen as being wrong because all people are suppose to be punished equally under the