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I would be willing to concede that there is no need for hate crimes legislation...

If you would be willing to concede that we are a long way off from equal enforcement of the law...

I noticed you said
"If the laws against assault, murder and other harm are enforced properly, everyone is protected equally. "

Let me know when that happens...I will be waiting very patiently... I have the feeling it may not happen before my 50th birthday... I would love to be wrong about this...

"I would be willing to concede that there is no need for hate crimes legislation...

"If you would be willing to concede that we are a long way off from equal enforcement of the law..."

Whatever makes you think the former has anything to do with the latter?

If laws are being equally enforced, then there is no need for hate crime laws.

And, if they are not being enforced equally, how will hate crime laws make it any different?

Hate crime laws are designed solely for the purpose of political pandering to "victim" groups. They have no other purpose. Other than undermining the Constitution, of course...

I can see a lot of discussion has taken place since I was on this thread, and I haven't read all of it. But I just wanted to respond to your last comments to me.
It is true that justice is not applied equally, no doubt about it. But creating extra punishments or special categories of crimes depending to which group of people the victim belongs, belittles those who are not members of such designated groups.

As far as special laws protecting children, or the elderly, these are special groups by their nature, being ill-equipped to defend themselves.
And as far as justice not being applied fairly, as long as we are in this mortal world it will ever be so. Adding hate crimes legislation is just another layer of injustice.

What is needed is a more moral people. Piling law upon law will not help. As long as people are educated in the "religion" of secular humanism/moral relativity, injstice and cruelty will only get worse and worse. What keeps human beings from being worse than beasts in the forest is not laws, but conscience. And to hear one's conscience, one needs training in some form of religion.

I would be considered by most here on FR to be a "member" of a minority religion, but all the great monotheistic religions have broadly speaking the same moral codes. That's what we need more of, not law piled upon unconstitutional law, misapplied by humans who are more and more riddled with moral flaws.