lewisje
All American
9196 Posts
user info
edit post |
I thout (at least in America) that an act cannot be a hate crime unless essentially the same act, unmotivated by animus toward a protected class, were also criminal; as repulsive as it is to burn a book you legally possess, the act itself is not a crime, so burning a Bible that you legally possess, although motivated by hatred toward Christians, is not a hate crime.
(It turns out that in other countries, certain acts not normally considered criminal are hate crimes when targeting a specific group, like possessing Nazi memorabilia in Germany without the government's permission, even though it is generally acceptable to possess historical political memorabilia.)
wait BRBFBI: http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/civilrights/hate_crimes/overview
| Quote : | "Defining a Hate Crime
A hate crime is a traditional offense like murder, arson, or vandalism with an added element of bias. For the purposes of collecting statistics, Congress has defined a hate crime as a "criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender's bias against a race, religion, disability, ethnic origin or sexual orientation." Hate itself is not a crime—and the FBI is mindful of protecting freedom of speech and other civil liberties." |
 12/31/2012 3:50:03 PM
|
