Is hate a crime?

[C_Clayton_Jones]

The arrest of three men in the Aubrey death in Georgia has got me thinking about "hate crimes" again. I think those men over stepped the bounds of citizen's arrest and are liable for the young man's death. Liable in Georgia that is. But now they have been arressed on federal hate crimes.
Personally I do not believe hate is a crime. We've all hated someone at some point even if only breifly. Hate is ugly but it is not an action, it's a thought. Are hate crime laws the begining of the thought polioce Orwell warned us about? IMO if someone punches me in the nose for no reason the punch is the crime. The reason for the punch is merely motive although it can play into sentencing for the action of punching me.
So it's the same crime whether he hit me because I an an old, straight, conservative white fella or because I had injured him in a DUI accident the previous year.. Same crime probably different sentences sentences.

Do you agree or disagree? And why? also what about the long term down side of thought being illegal?

Yes, most conservatives are truly this stupid and dishonest.

 

[RebelQueen]

The arrest of three men in the Aubrey death in Georgia has got me thinking about "hate crimes" again. I think those men over stepped the bounds of citizen's arrest and are liable for the young man's death. Liable in Georgia that is. But now they have been arressed on federal hate crimes.
Personally I do not believe hate is a crime. We've all hated someone at some point even if only breifly. Hate is ugly but it is not an action, it's a thought. Are hate crime laws the begining of the thought polioce Orwell warned us about? IMO if someone punches me in the nose for no reason the punch is the crime. The reason for the punch is merely motive although it can play into sentencing for the action of punching me.
So it's the same crime whether he hit me because I an an old, straight, conservative white fella or because I had injured him in a DUI accident the previous year.. Same crime probably different sentences sentences.

Do you agree or disagree? And why? also what about the long term down side of thought being illegal?

Hating someone or something is not a crime. What is a crime, is when you use someone's differences as a "reason" for committing a crime. Everyone regardless of their race, religion or gender has the same rights as everyone else. If any of those are the underlying reason that someone commits a crime, its a hate crime.

That being said... should it carry a stiffer penalty than any other crime. The answer is yes, IF its a pattern of behavior.

Just one's humble opinion.

 

[donttread]

The arrest of three men in the Aubrey death in Georgia has got me thinking about "hate crimes" again. I think those men over stepped the bounds of citizen's arrest and are liable for the young man's death. Liable in Georgia that is. But now they have been arressed on federal hate crimes.
Personally I do not believe hate is a crime. We've all hated someone at some point even if only breifly. Hate is ugly but it is not an action, it's a thought. Are hate crime laws the begining of the thought polioce Orwell warned us about? IMO if someone punches me in the nose for no reason the punch is the crime. The reason for the punch is merely motive although it can play into sentencing for the action of punching me.
So it's the same crime whether he hit me because I an an old, straight, conservative white fella or because I had injured him in a DUI accident the previous year.. Same crime probably different sentences sentences.

Do you agree or disagree? And why? also what about the long term down side of thought being illegal?

Hating someone or something is not a crime. What is a crime, is when you use someone's differences as a "reason" for committing a crime. Everyone regardless of their race, religion or gender has the same rights as everyone else. If any of those are the underlying reason that someone commits a crime, its a hate crime.

That being said... should it carry a stiffer penalty than any other crime. The answer is yes, IF its a pattern of behavior.

Just one's humble opinion.

To me that is still thought crime. The action, say assault is the crime. Disgust or understanding of the motive can mitigate sentencing either way. But this is an extremely slippery slope all the way down to 1984. BTW thank you for a civil response. Those are rare these days.

 

[donttread]

Hating is not a crime but it can be used as an aggravating factor to enhance the sentence for a particularly heinous racially motivated crime. Why do some people not understand this? The motivation for committing a crime is often used at sentencing and no one seems to have a problem with that until white people finally started going down hard for racist attacks.

So what's wrong with using the motive as amitigating factor in sentencing as you said? No new crime required. No new law needed. No federal over reach involved. Look at the unpatriot act for example. Indefinet detention without due process ( and other unconstitiutional nonesense ONLY for use against terrorist. A few years later sections were quietly used against domestic regular crime suspects. That's how this stuff goes. Now that "hate" is illegal why not other thoughts?

 

[Street Juice]

The arrest of three men in the Aubrey death in Georgia has got me thinking about "hate crimes" again. I think those men over stepped the bounds of citizen's arrest and are liable for the young man's death. Liable in Georgia that is. But now they have been arressed on federal hate crimes.
Personally I do not believe hate is a crime. We've all hated someone at some point even if only breifly. Hate is ugly but it is not an action, it's a thought. Are hate crime laws the begining of the thought polioce Orwell warned us about? IMO if someone punches me in the nose for no reason the punch is the crime. The reason for the punch is merely motive although it can play into sentencing for the action of punching me.
So it's the same crime whether he hit me because I an an old, straight, conservative white fella or because I had injured him in a DUI accident the previous year.. Same crime probably different sentences sentences.

Do you agree or disagree? And why? also what about the long term down side of thought being illegal?

There is no such thing as an evil emotion. Emotions are only ever rational or irrational, i.e., conform more or less to the world as it really is. If I fear an axe murderer, my fear is rational. If I fear my shadow, it is irrational. Even hate, like all emotions, can serve a rational purpose. If I hate you because you were born in Mexico, my hate is irrational, but if I hate you because you are raping our daughter, it is rational hate and may provide the motive power to take the steps necessary to ensure you never hurt her again.

Anyone who claims to be "fighting hate" is a dangerous fraud. In the first place, hate is a part of the human condition; we can no more fight hate than we can fight digestion. Secondly, accusations of hate are dirty politics. Dangerous organizations like the ADL or SPLC use "hate" in the same way the Bolsheviks used "enemy of the people". Like the earlier Bolsheviks, the neo-Bolsheviks identify a position they disagree with, say reducing immigration, label it as hate, and the sheep dutifully bleat out the condemnations.