Does the term, "Hate Crime" have a place in our legal system?

      This post isn't necessarily a point I'm trying to make, just a question I'm trying to ask.

      Should someone receive a greater punishment simply because they commit a crime because they don't like the color of someone's skin, religion, or sexual orientation? The first response is: "Of course!"

      But when we really think about it, is that fair?


      If a white man hits a black man at a bar simply for "the crime of being black," is that any worse than him hitting a white man at a bar for "no reason?"

      Part of me feels like that isn't right. Wouldn't that be reverse discrimination? I guess the question here is, should we punish someone solely on the basis of the crime they committed or should we account for the reasoning behind it?

      Here are some examples to consider:

      Example 1:

            Joe is in his living room with Mary watching a television show. Suddenly, the door breaks open and a man with a mask comes in with a gun. The man shoots Mary in the chest. Joe, being the 2nd Amendment-following American he is, pulls out is own pistol from the drawer in the coffee table and shoots the perpetrator in the shoulder, causing him to drop his gun and fall on the ground.

      In this case, Joe was acting out of self-defense, but technically he shot someone. If we were to only judge actions on the action committed, not the reasoning behind it, then Joe would be sent to jail unfairly for attacking the masked man. But, if the reasoning behind the action were taken into account, then Joe would be released under his acting out of self-defense.

      Example 2:

            Sam just found out that his wife, Mary, had been cheating on him with his friend, Joe. Sam is angry. He grabs his pistol from drawer in his nightstand that the 2nd Amendment allows him to have and walks over to Joe's house. The door is locked. He kicks at the handle and breaks the lock, causing the door to break wide open. He rushes into the room with his pistol drawn and sees Joe and Mary, cuddled together, watching a television show. Out of anger, he attempts to shoot Joe but he misses and gets Mary in the face. Joe pulls out is own pistol from the drawer in the coffee table and shoots Sam in the shoulder, causing him to drop his gun and fall on the ground. Sam wakes up in the hospital. 

      Regardless of Sam's reasoning behind his murder, he still committed the murder. In my viewpoint, Sam should not have his punishment lessened because his wife was cheating on him. He committed murder and should be punished for murder.

      Reasoning should be looked at only when determining the punishment for a murder, but not the severity of the punishment. If a man or woman is guilty of a crime, they are guilty and should not have done it so the punishment should not be alleviated. If a white man kills a black man, or vice-versa, then the white man should be punished for murder; additional punishment should not be stacked on for it being a hate crime.

     ------------ If you like the article, give my blog a follow and/or share it on facebook/twitter/googleplus!