SCHMAE
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2011
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I will stick up for you and your state! I've been to Charleston on vacation and loved it, the history and the wonderful people. I'm hoping to drive through your state on my way up to Virginia later this year. I've read here, and of course other stuff in the media all the time, about my chosen state of Texas being racist and bigoted. That hasn't been my experience in the 13 years I've lived here. I'm sure there are plenty of racists if I look for them and decide I want to hang out with those types. Hmmm, just as in every state.
You are also not alone in your questioning of the hate crime issue...I know of others who, from a real "human value" question, wonder why the *reason* matters for the crime. How someone described it to me was, "because I was killed due to xyz reason, my life mattered or was worth more than yours, if you were killed out of just general rage/anger?" I had never thought about it like that, and have come back to that question many times over the years. I'm sure it was enacted to ensure the maximum penalty for some crimes that targeted certain groups, to work around lesser charges in differing states, maybe?...but in this case, if SC already has the DP for state crimes, and they are intending to proceed with it, then why are the federal charges required? Maybe procedural reasons or ? I really don't know, as it isn't something we deal with in this office. Remember, in almost all other crimes, motive does not matter or need to be proven.
BBM, And this goes to a previous post ^^ about ' you can only kill the perp once' if it's a hate crime or not, as well. Yes, if you look at a hate crime murder, that would seem redundant. But if you look at all of the other hate crimes, it might make more sense. If someone dumps a bag of garbage in your yard because they are too lazy to go to the trash can then that is not a very serious crime. If they dump a bag of garbage in your yard and spray paint racist language, that is a hate crime. That means but for the ' hate' they would not have done what would normally be called mere 'vandalism'. Ditto with an assault . Two drunk guys outside a bar at 2 a.m. smack talking each other until one throws a punch should not be the same charge as someone who seeks out a minority to assault. So why should the charge and punishment be the same. As for the punishment, yes you can only kill them once. But if it were one murder , instead of 9, in our current justice system, there's a fair chance this guy might get out of prison sometime after 20 yrs. The ' hate ' aspect tacked on will make all the sentencing longer. All moo of course.