They send an important message, but that's not always the same as a solution.
It's been just over two weeks since the Atlanta-area spa shootings that left eight people dead, including six women of Asian descent, and since then the country has only seen more of the anti-Asian violence that has become far too familiar over the past year. Public outcry over these racist attacks is often followed by a demand for a particular solution, one that has been made by the president himself: more hate crime laws. |
But 47 states and the District of Columbia already have hate crime laws on the books, which are designed to increase the penalty of a crime when it's motivated by some form of bias. That raises a question: Are hate crime laws doing the job society wants them to do, and are they really the best response we have to violent bigotry? |
Spencer: You talk to Steven Freeman, the vice president for civil rights at the Anti-Defamation League, an organization that has played a leading role in the expansion of hate crime laws. Can you explain the rationale behind hate crime laws and what social purpose supporters would say they serve? |
Jane: As Freeman notes during our conversation, hate crime laws are intended as a tool in the prosecution of hate, not a bulwark against hate itself. By adding additional penalties to crimes if they were committed because of the victim's personal characteristics — who they are, so to speak — hate crimes laws make it clear that crimes aimed at a community cannot and will not be tolerated. But as we discuss on today's episode of The Argument, hate crime laws don't necessarily prevent hate crimes. |
Spencer: To a lot of people, I think, the idea of communicating intolerance for bigotry through prosecution sounds pretty sensible. But as with any policy that involves the force of the state, you find principled critics of all kinds of political persuasions. Some civil libertarians, for example, argue that the government should punish people only for performing certain acts, not for having certain values. And on the left, there's a view that hate crime laws absolve society of the duty to dismantle oppressive systems by singling out only their most blatant manifestations for punishment, which isn't really the same thing as justice. |
Jane: Right. Something that we discuss on today's episode of The Argument is that, again, a hate crime designation isn't proactive. It doesn't stop the crime from taking place, meaning that while a community might see that designation as meeting their needs, the victim may not. And in an era where many people are demanding sentencing reform, adding additional punishments to already lengthy stays in prison is concerning. |
Spencer: Especially when considered against the criticism that the criminal justice system is itself systemically biased. In New York City, the only person who has been prosecuted for an anti-Asian hate crime this year is a Taiwanese man accused of writing anti-Chinese graffiti. Many states also don't designate gender identity or sexual orientation as protected characteristics. In what other ways are our hate crime laws not working? |
Jane: It's worth noting that, according to an analysis by Joel Schwitzer in the Austin American-Statesman, in 2019, 72 cities with a population greater than 100,000 residents recorded no hate crimes taking place at all — which seems, at best, highly implausible. It's up to prosecutors and law enforcement officials to decide when a crime is a hate crime, and their decisions can differ widely from what those within the targeted community may desire. |
Spencer: Are there any other policy options that both defenders and critics of hate crime laws support? |
Jane: Both Freeman and my other guest, Kevin Nadal, a professor of psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, agree that restorative justice practices and strategies to mitigate hate before crimes take place are necessary. Racism, anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry are learned, and they can be unlearned, too. |
Here's what we're focusing on today: |
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