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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Machaon who wrote (131787)	3/14/2001 1:51:19 PM
From: Srexley	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

"Do you really think that they are going to make hate crime laws that only apply to non-white victims?" No, but I have never heard of a potential hate crime case that involved an attack on white people and I am pretty sure that they occur. I "really think" that the laws would be written to apply to everyone, but would mostly be applied against white males in actuality. How would the law be applied if a gang member "hates" members from a rival gang and kills one of them even though he is in the same ethnic group? My main point is that laws should be as simple as possible to understand and implement. I personally cannot see how a rape, murder, assault or almost any violent crime can be committed without some level of hatred. It is hard to effectively judge the level of someone's hatred (and base the penalty on it), but relatively easy to ascertain the actual crime that was committed. The side for hate crime legislation seems to want to combine political correctness with the law. Bad mix imo. "Do you feel that all crimes of hate are currently resulting in the death penalty?" No. Not even close (nor should they be). The point was that penalties should be based on the crime itself. There was quite an uproar that the Byrd case did not lead to more hate crimes legislation in TX. I assume that the people crying out wanted something more than death for these people. "In a way, you are torturing me right now!" Good! <g>

To: Machaon who wrote (131787)	3/14/2001 3:48:56 PM
From: Little Joe	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

Robert: << Let's say a black guy kills a white guy because he hates whites. What criteria will be used to determine whether or not it is a hate crime? >> The jury will have to determine the motives of the crime. This is done all the time in our courts. << Is it only a hate crime if a white guy/gal commits it? >> Do you really think that they are going to make hate crime laws that only apply to non-white victims? Or, are you saying that most hate crimes are committed by whites, so you feel that whites would be the unfair targets of hate crime laws? Again I am compelled to respond. Robert, one of the real problems is that in some communities it is the minorities who will be the victims of this legislation. One of the little known facts is that civil rights laws are being more successfully used by whites who claim violation than by minorities. There is a reason for this, if a jury is all or mostly white, it is human nature to be more sympathetic to a white person and I might add vice versa. It is no accident that O.J. Simpson won when tried in a community with a high minority population and lost when tried in a WASP (for lack of a better term) community. I think the length of a sentence is best left to a judge. If not I think white people who commit crimes in minority areas will be victims and vice versa. How's that for justice? Not my idea. Little joe