[quote=spdrun]Speaking for myself personally, I don’t think the legal concept of “hate crimes” should exist at all. I think whatever happens (assault, mayhem, murder, etc) should be tried as the offense itself and punished appropriately, subject to a judge’s discretion. Motives are less important than actions, and the actions should be punished.[/quote]
you be tripping. motive matters. the type of victim matters.
we punish people who hurt kids, old people, cops, different. kill a cop, a certain class of individual, and society might want to give you the death penalty. why? there’s a particularly flagrant disregard for the law in killing a police officer. there’s particular societal deviance, an intrinsic meanness, in raping say a 7 year old , or a 97 year old, as opposed to a 27 year old woman (or man).
it is perfectly justifiable to pick out certain groups as crime victims and give them additional levels of protection, in the abstract sense that additional punishment is any form of actual protection.
which it probably isn’t. but at least it shows we give a damn about hurting a vulnerable, or fringe or other group with significant social meaning..
