Hate Crimes Overview

During the last few years almost every state has enacted some form of hate crime law. In some cases, punishments for offenses such as assault, arson, kidnapping, and sexual abuse were enhanced to cover a hate crime charge. In other scenarios, new criminal offenses were created to cover hate crimes.

Hate Crimes Defined

In general terms, a hate crime is any criminal offense committed against a person, property, or society that is motivated by bias against a specific party because of race, religion, ethnicity, sex, age, disability, national origin, or sexual preference. Some hate crimes can be prosecuted at the Federal level, but in most cases they are prosecuted either at the state of local level.

Hate Crime Laws

Generally, hate crime laws will list specific crimes that are already part of that state's criminal laws, such as murder, assault, vandalism, arson, or sexual offenses, as an underlying offense. The law for hate crimes would then go on to state new and separate criminal offenses that a person or group of people can be charged with if one of the motivations for the crime was hatred and/or bias on the part of the people committing the crime against the victim or victims.

Punishments for Hate Crimes

While the laws do vary greatly from state to state, in most cases the punishment for being convicted of a hate crime would be based upon the underlying offense. The crimes are graded according to severity. You could be charged with a misdemeanor or felony based on the circumstances of the crime. Many states make the punishment for hate crimes one grade higher than for the underlying offense. For example, if you're convicted of assault and battery with no hate crime charge, then you may, depending on the circumstances, only get probation or some other punishment. However, if a hate crime charge were added onto the assault and battery charge, the punishment would be more severe. Additionally, some states allow the victim or victims of a hate crime to sue the person who committed the crime against them in a civil lawsuit for monetary damages.

Being charged with a hate crime is a very serious offense. If you've been charged with a hate crime you should seek out qualified criminal attorneys to represent your rights.