Obama signs defense bill with hate crimes law

Thursday 29th October, 06:20 AM JST

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

› Login to comment

Latest 15 of 27 Total Comments Show All

LIBERTAS at 10:59 PM JST - 29th October

I would say that ALL crime is a form of hate crime, on one level or another.
LIBERTAS at 11:42 PM JST - 29th October

Typical leftist hypocrisy, and more attacks on our liberty.

That's just rich! THE greatest attacks on Americans' liberty took place under successive GOP administrations. W took the biscuit, with warrantless wiretaps, DHS, the so called Patriot Act etc. etc. etc. American's sold their liberty for a false security.

"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."

Ben Franklin, Feb 17 1775. Ya shoulda listened! Last I looked "All men are created equal...." meant just that, ALL men (and women too of course.)
eigonosensei at 11:44 PM JST - 29th October

Usually if you want to beat the crap out of someone you hate them first, right? "Hate crime" seems redundant.

Hmm.. maybe it's double-think. We are supposed to think that we don't like "hate crime" so if you HATE crime then you are bad.... O.o

Officer-"Did you commit a hate crime!?" The accused-"No! I LOVE crime!" Doh!!
Taka313 at 12:42 AM JST - 30th October

This is good news for the gay and lesbian community.

Well done Congress and Mr. President.

Taka
Sarge at 12:51 AM JST - 30th October

"a victory against careless spending"

That will come only after Obama and the Democrats, who have put our nation into the deepest debt ever, are ousted from power.
Hehehohohaha at 06:27 AM JST - 30th October

That will come only after Obama and the Democrats, who have put our nation into the deepest debt ever, are ousted from power.

I hope that you not suggesting that had McCain won that America would not have gone deeper into debt.

making the central government that much closer to a police state. "America is now following hate law countries such as Canada, England, and Australia

This is rich: Canada, England, and Australia are now police states.
Molenir at 06:31 AM JST - 30th October

We already have laws for murder that apply equally to everyone....

Agreed. One the one hand hate crime laws sound good. They make it seem like we're being tough on criminals. But why is a rape by a white man against a black woman worse then a rape by a white man against a white woman? I am strongly opposed to hate crimes legislation. Not because I like seeing killers walk free, but because it perverts the system of justice. Murder is murder. Rape is rape. Reasons for the commission of the crime shouldn't matter, only the crime itself. If something is viewed as especially heinous, its easy to ramp up the punishment level without using the Hate crimes route. As it is, the hate crime statute should be repealed.
Hehehohohaha at 06:53 AM JST - 30th October

Reasons for the commission of the crime shouldn't matter, only the crime itself.

So motive does not play a part in investigating a crime? Crime often does not easily lend itself to simple guilt/not guilty dualities. Knowing the motive helps in building a case for guilt and also plays a part in sentencing.
SuperLib at 09:07 AM JST - 30th October

When you give a lighter sentence to someone else because he killed someone not seen as "special" under the eyes of the law then you're in fact saying that their murder is less tragic. I don't think that's right.

And what happens when someone kills a gay guy and calls him a "fag" in the process? Maybe he's angry and kills and that's the first word that comes out of his mouth. Maybe if he killed someone else who wasn't gay he'd call him an "a-hole" before killing him. It's like we have to now listen to the words he uses when he kills to decide how long his sentence should be, when in fact they might just be random words said in rage.
adaydream at 10:45 AM JST - 30th October

SuperLib

Sometimes it's obvious hate was involved, as was the case with Matthew Shepard.

Taking your own statement from above, should the murders of Matthew Shepard be judged any differently then the man killed by mistake in the commission of a robbery? < :-)
Molenir at 10:52 AM JST - 30th October

So motive does not play a part in investigating a crime? Crime often does not easily lend itself to simple guilt/not guilty dualities. Knowing the motive helps in building a case for guilt and also plays a part in sentencing.

Motive plays a role, of course it does. Its role though is one primarily in determining guilt or innocence. The crime though is what should determine punishment, not the motive for the crime.

Should it matter at all if I murder someone because they're black, or because they're gay or a woman. Maybe because they're Catholic or Muslim. You see, none of that matters at all. Those are my reasons for why I might do something evil, but the reasons for my punishment and the severity of it, should not be based on why I might have done something, but rather because I did it. As SuperLib and others said, giving someone a lighter sentence implies its less bad somehow. 20 years as opposed to life, to me, this victimizes people further. It says that one crime isn't as bad as another.

There is a reason why the statue of justice is blindfolded, and holding scales. It gets at what we want, and expect justice to be. Hate crime laws go against that. Perverting the justice system, unbalancing the scales. It! Ought! Not! To! Be!
SuperLib at 11:44 AM JST - 30th October

adaydream: Taking your own statement from above, should the murders of Matthew Shepard be judged any differently then the man killed by mistake in the commission of a robbery?

There are some distinctions made for murder, like aggravated circumstances for which the death penalty becomes a possibility. And there's a difference between manslaughter and murder, with manslaughter mostly being an unintentional killing, like hitting someone with your car. The law already accounts for certain situations when the motive can be different. My comparison was different sentences for different people for the same crime.

Do you have a point or are you just asking questions?
adaydream at 12:43 PM JST - 30th October

It's like we have to now listen to the words he uses when he kills to decide how long his sentence should be, when in fact they might just be random words said in rage.

I only made issue of your comment because this statement you made later. Yes we do listen to the words he says when he murders. Remember anything and everything can be used in a court of law. And yes it should be used in sentencing. < :-)
SuperLib at 03:49 PM JST - 30th October

So a guy who shouts, "Screw you, gay person" should get 20 years in jail and a guy who shouts, "Screw you, jerk!" should only get 10 years?
adaydream at 05:55 AM JST - 31st October

SuperLib that's what the court has to decide. If they decide that it was a racist act, screaming a gay slur and murders him. Maybe so. They might decide to consider it in the verdict and sentencing. < :-)