Relevant WP Article: What makes a crime a hate crime? And would the Chicago attack qualify?

[SaschaHM]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2017/01/05/what-makes-a-crime-a-hate-crime-and-would-the-chicago-attack-qualify/

After being attacked over whether or not the Chicago crime will fit the legal definition of a hate crime and being accusing of trying to "minimize the case", I found this article.

I think this is a really great article explaining the ins and outs of hate crimes laws as they currently stand. Definitely worth the read if you want to understand what's going on in Chicago and what will happen in the future if this goes to trial.

The story about a Chicago assault that, reportedly, involved a group of young black men and women attacking a young white mentally disabled man, shouting “Fuck Trump” and “Fuck white people,” led some people to ask about what constitutes a hate crime. The question could equally arise, of course, as to white-on-black hate crimes, as well as the many other hate-crime combinations there can be. It’s an important question, and I have some answers.

1. It’s generally about the attacker discriminatorily selecting a victim, not about “hate” as such. Under Illinois law, for instance, an assault or other such crime is a hate crime when the victim is selected “by reason of the actual or perceived race, color, creed, religion, ancestry, gender, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, or national origin of another individual or group of individuals, regardless of the existence of any other motivating factor or factors.” Federal law applies a similar definition, though for disability-related crimes it also requires a connection to interstate commerce. (Also, Illinois and federal law vary in some measure as to what kinds of underlying crimes are covered, though both would cover deliberate physical injury.)

[Throd 2.0]

1. Sounds like one to me. n/t

[uppityperson]

2. Did they select him because he was disabled? It sounds like that to me.

[yeoman6987]

3. What change to the sentence would a hate crime result in?

As long as they see a long prison sentence I don't care what they call it. Just get those 4 off the streets.

[mr_liberal]

4. There should be no "hate crime". It criminalizes thought and speech.

It shouldn't matter whether this victim was white or black, the punishment should be the same.

[dionysus]

5. There is a limit to free speech, see the old yelling fire in a theatre example...