I have very mixed feelings about hate crime legislation myself. On the one hand it attempts systematically to make sure that violence which historically would be celebrated or ignored is now taken seriously.
On the other, I fear it's just a matter of time before hating the people in power becomes a hate crime. "Striking union members were arrested yesterday when they referred to CEO Blah Blah as a filthy rich pig". much of the legislation is written with these things in mind, but there's no guarantee, imho, that they won't get turned on their heads. Plus, this type of legislation ignores class as does a lot of multi-cultural/anti-oppression work.
But as for right now, I think they are needed. I do think without the extra enhancement this would have been brushed aside with even less penalty. I retain full "I told you so" rights for the future however.
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Date: 2004-05-17 10:57 am (UTC)On the other, I fear it's just a matter of time before hating the people in power becomes a hate crime. "Striking union members were arrested yesterday when they referred to CEO Blah Blah as a filthy rich pig". much of the legislation is written with these things in mind, but there's no guarantee, imho, that they won't get turned on their heads. Plus, this type of legislation ignores class as does a lot of multi-cultural/anti-oppression work.
But as for right now, I think they are needed. I do think without the extra enhancement this would have been brushed aside with even less penalty. I retain full "I told you so" rights for the future however.