Alma Mater Getting Sued

[Pix]

Another thing I don't understand is hate crime laws. How is it worse if you kill me because of my sexuality than if you kill me because you hate my personality?

The theory behind hate crimes is that they not only target the individual, they target and terrorize an entire community. For example, the torture-murder of Matthew Shepherd sent a message to all other gay people in the area: "stay in the closet or get out or this can happen to you, too." If say a jilted boyfriend--or perhaps the wife or girlfriend of a guy who dumped her for him--were to have arranged for the same horrifying treatment then it wouldn't be a hate crime because it wouldn't send a death threat against all gays in the community. That's the difference.

In short, a hate crime doubles as a terrorist threat against an entire group of people, because the victim is chosen simply because s/he is a member of the said group and all other members of that same group know they can be next which serves to intimidate them all into silence or fleeing or otherwise living in fear. It's not that gays or whatever are somehow more special as individuals as opponents of hate crime legislation like to say the law implies, and if some other motive applies (such as jealousy or business deal gone bad) then it's not targeting whatever community and so it's not a hate crime as it's not meant to terrorize an entire group.