I didn’t know there was a federal hate crimes law.
your tax dollars at work
“I didn’t know there was a federal hate crimes law.”
Yes, since 1994. The FBI keeps track of hate crimes victimizations using the Uniform Crime Report system.
For example, in 2005 there were 8,795 victims of bias-incidents charged as hate crimes. 4,895 of those were racial bias victimizations and 975 of them were anti-white bias victimizations while 3,322 were anti-black victimizations. There were also 1,405 relgious bias hate crimes with 977 anti-Jewish victimizations and 119 anti-Christian victimizations. There were also 1,213 victimizations for sexual orientation, 1,228 victimizations for ethnicity/national origin and 54 victimizations for disability status.
The federal government and most states use sentencing enhancements with hate crimes meaning the perpetrator has been found guilty of assault or arson and sentenced for that crime and then if a hate motive can be proved to judge/jury then additional time served is added. Its the same way that crimes against police officers are adjudicated.