Hate crime

A hate crime (also known a bias crime)[1] is crime where a perpetrator targets a victim because of their physical appearance or perceived membership of a certain social group.[2]

Examples of such groups can include, and are almost exclusively limited to race, ethnicity, disability, language, nationality, physical appearance, political views, political affiliation, age, religion, sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation.[2][3][4][5] Non-criminal actions that are motivated by these reasons are often called "bias incidents".

Incidents may involve physical assault, homicide, damage to property, bullying, harassment, verbal abuse (which includes slurs) or insults, mate crime, or offensive graffiti or letters (hate mail).[6]

In the criminal law of the United States, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines a hate crime as a traditional offense like murder, arson, or vandalism with an added element of bias. Hate itself is not a hate crime but committing a crime motivated by bias against one or more of the social groups listed above, or by bias against their derivatives constitutes a hate crime.[7] A hate crime law is a law intended to deter bias-motivated violence.[8] Hate crime laws are distinct from laws against hate speech: hate crime laws enhance the penalties associated with conduct which is already criminal under other laws, while hate speech laws criminalize a category of speech. Hate speech is a factor for sentencing enhancement in the United States, distinct from laws that criminalize speech.

  1. ^ "Hate crime". Dictionary.com. Also called bias crime.
  2. ^ a b Skoczylis, Joshua; Andrews, Sam (January 2022). "Strain theory, resilience, and far-right extremism: The impact of gender, life experiences, and the internet". Critical Studies on Terrorism. 15 (1: Critical Approaches to Extreme Right Wing Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism). Taylor & Francis: 143–168. doi:10.1080/17539153.2022.2031137. ISSN 1753-9161. S2CID 246832210.
  3. ^ Stotzer, R. (June 2007). "Comparison of Hate Crime Rates Across Protected and Unprotected Groups" (PDF). Williams Institute. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2012. "A hate crime or bias motivated crime occurs when the perpetrator of the crime intentionally selects the victim because of their membership in a certain group."
  4. ^ "Methodology". FBI.
  5. ^ Streissguth, Tom (2003). Hate Crimes (Library in a Book), p. 3. ISBN 0-8160-4879-7.
  6. ^ "Home Office | Hate crime". Archived from the original on 26 November 2005.
  7. ^ "What We Investitgate-Hate Crimes". FBI.
  8. ^ Meyer, Doug (2014). "Resisting Hate Crime Discourse: Queer and Intersectional Challenges to Neoliberal Hate Crime Laws". Critical Criminology. 22 (1): 113–125. doi:10.1007/s10612-013-9228-x. S2CID 143546829.