Replies

we already have that under the law - battery. What we're looking to add (again if I understand this law correctly) is harsher punishment for attacks motivated by discrimination.

And that is EXACTLY what I and many others oppose completely. Discrimination against whom? If I walk through a bad neighborhood in Camden, NJ and am stuck up and robbed by a hispanic thug, who calls me 'gringo' is that a 'hate crime'? What if he calls me 'mariposa'? Is it a hate crime then? The fact of the matter is I was mugged. That should be the crime that's punished, not whether the mugger was motivated by my being white or homosexual. And in practice, we know that these "hate crimes" laws do not protect whites from acts of hatred against them. It's a one-way street.

Not only should people refrain from attacking others, they should also, and moreso, refrain from doing so just b/c the other is different from one's self.

How childish. Do you think that the granny who gets her purse snatched was the victim of a criminal who was just striking out randomly? No, he was targetting her because she's old and won't be able to resist. By definition, she is "different" from the perp.

I do think that's a worse crime, and I do think there's a public interest in minimzing it, and deterrance thru harsher punishment is one way of accomplishing this.

I don't think it's a worse crime at all. An old lady who gets beat up and robbed because she's old, versus a homo who gets beat up and robbed because he's a homo. I think both crimes are equally heinous and should be punished equally. No separate classes of victims need to be set up at all.

Attacking someone (mugging) is one thing - you need money, you choose a crappy way to get it. Fine. But mugging someone or attacking someone just b/c they are black, gay, Christian, etc. is horrible, and, if left unchecked, leads to things like nazis and lynchings.

Oh right. And in order to protect society from lynchings and nazis (which are a common and deadly worry here in USA 2005, of course), we've got to give certain special classes of people extra rights and protections over the rest of us. If that's not the most idiotic thing I've ever heard ...

When I'm in jail for speaking out against the gays, I hope you'll come visit me so I can tell you, "I told you so."