Unprosecuted Hate Crimes
Unprosecuted Hate Crimes
Published: August 14, 2012
Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. told the Senate in 2009 that “we have a significant hate crimes problem in this country.” The recent murders at the Sikh temple in Wisconsin have raised this issue in the public consciousness.
But too often bias-motivated violence is underreported to state and local police departments, even when states and cities have hate crime laws on the books. In many cases, such violence is prosecuted as conventional crime.
In 2010, the last year for which there are data, neither Miami nor New Orleans reported the occurrence of any hate crimes to the federal government, even though the press reported such crimes in both cities.
Underreporting leads to underenforcement, which matters because, as Mr. Holder said, “bias-motivated acts of violence divide our communities, intimidate our most vulnerable citizens, and damage our collective spirit.”
More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/15/opinion/unprosecuted-hate-crimes.html?ref=opinion
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