Hate crimes still happen in 2023. What separates a hate crime from others is the malicious intent in carrying out that crime. This has to do with disdain for someone’s ethnicity, age, disability, mental state, political affiliation, choice of identity or ideology as the main factor in an act committed against their victim.

(2) comments

jill

How does one prove intent in court? A crime is a crime is a crime...no special treatment for interest groups should be promoted. We're all equal under the law after all...

Report Add Reply
Msgib1

Intent is a major element in crimes and is usually proven by eye witness accounts of the suspect's actions or statements. In the case of intent to hate, my guess would be a judge or jury (if the case is serious enough to warrant one) would have to determine if there was "malicious" intent in the process of a crime. Most likely, this ordinance will be more of a deterrent for the very few people who would be serious enough to perpetrate a malicious crime due to hate and will help make the lives of those who could be a likely victim less stressful.

Report Add Reply

Welcome to the discussion.

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.

Post a comment
Stop watching this discussion.