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To: Norm Lenhart
Should the attacker be punished more severely because of his victim’s choice in sex practices?...[snip]

Hate crime laws by their existence require that the value of one ‘class’ of person must have a greater value than another. So which is it? Are gay black men more valuable in the eyes of the law than a straight white man? Or is a straight white woman held in higher regard than a straight black man? Or any other combination?

Fascinating. I think this argument needs to take place in the public sphere. I hate that we are too politically correct to have something like a prime time Firing Line show with issues like this, seriously debated.

We had a horrendous massacre take place here in our little 'hood some years back on Halloween. It got some national attention. A swarm of young blacks (teens to early 20s) attacked a couple of white female college students walking from a popular Haunted House in a quaint residential neighborhood (upper middle class, but surrounded by lower middle class or worse neighborhoods). 20-40 "youths" piled on to these innocent girls (after first throwing pumpkins, lemons, and insults against whites at them), ripping their earrings out of their skin, beating them, kicking them, stealing their property as an afterthought, and one youth beating them over the head with a skateboard even after the board broke.

Their lives were saved by an older Good Samaritan (who happened to be black, and who himself got beaten for stepping in). One girl was studying photography but she lost so much of her vision she had to give up her dream. The few perps who got caught, got house arrest and very light sentences. they were still able to be on their school's athletic teams. Their parents cried that they were "good kids."

We here in the neighborhood felt that "hate crime" designation was important for fairness only. We knew that if a mob of white youths attempted to murder innocent black girls walking past, this would be national news for months, and the perps would still be behind bars today. This would be a very racist crime.

It's all turned around when the perps are of a protected minority. I agree with you that the facts about the victim should not matter, but they DO, emotionally, and that is the way life is. Why else would murder be dropped to 2nd degree if the murderer killed his cheating wife, or the guy who raped his 13-year-old daughter? Emotion still plays a part in our legal system. We just are not robots. But I like your argument very much.

143 posted on 07/02/2011 1:34:40 PM PDT by Yaelle
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To: Yaelle

“Emotion still plays a part in our legal system. We just are not robots. But I like your argument very much.”

Thanks.

I agree that emotion does play a part. And yes, we wouldn’t be human if they didn’t. But that emotion also is the opposite of ‘law’ and the source if inequality. Justice must be to the greatest extent possible, blind, or it really is not justice at all.

But that’s an academic argument and never does/will happen in reality.


146 posted on 07/02/2011 2:18:23 PM PDT by Norm Lenhart
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To: Yaelle

“Emotion still plays a part in our legal system. We just are not robots. But I like your argument very much.”

Thanks.

I agree that emotion does play a part. And yes, we wouldn’t be human if they didn’t. But that emotion also is the opposite of ‘law’ and the source if inequality. Justice must be to the greatest extent possible, blind, or it really is not justice at all.

But that’s an academic argument and never does/will happen in reality.


147 posted on 07/02/2011 2:19:32 PM PDT by Norm Lenhart
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