Variation in the Punishment of Hate Crimes Essay -- Law Legal Crime Re

Variation in the Punishment of Hate Crimes Love Thy Neighbor. We have all been taught, if not have heard these same words. There are two opposite words in the dictionary with two opposite meanings. Love is defined as to have a deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person, and on the other side Hate is told as to feel hostility or animosity toward a person or thing. With this, hate crimes can be murder or assault, or racially or religiously motivated. In the following cases you will see that hate crimes take many different forms and there exists a wide variation among states in the specifics of their laws.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the Mississippi Code punishment for Hate Crimes are noted in 99-19-301 through 99-19-307. In order to impose an enhanced penalty under the provision of 99-19-301 through 99-19-307, the jury must find beyond a reasonable doubt: that the defendant knew that the victim was within the class delineated; and that the defendant had specific intent to commit the offense because the victim was within the class delineated. As subsection two of the hate-crimes statute indicates, in order for the felony enhancement to apply, a person must commit an underlying misdemeanor â€Å"primary offense.† Primary offenses under the statute include assault, property destruction, criminal trespass, and any misdemeanor offense against public order and decency. According to the Mississippi crime and punishment graph, hate crimes that are any felony or misdemeanor act racially motivated may double in sentence.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Beckwith v. State, Medgar Evers, a black civil rights activist and leader in the turbulent 1950s-1960s civil rights struggles, was murdered at his home in Jackson January 12, 1963. Byron De La Beckwith, a vocal prosegregationist and white supremacist in this State, was arrested June 23rd and indicted for Evers’ murder at the July, 1963, term of the grand jury of Hinds County. He stood trial in February, 1964, and following a hung jury, a mistrial was ordered by the circuit judge February 7. He again stood trial in April, and following another hung jury, the circuit judge declared a mistrial April 17, 1964. Until his second trial, Beckwith had been incarcerated without bail. Following his second trial Beckwith was released on $10,000 bail. He ran a markedly unsuccessful election and his successor on March 10, 1969, moved court t... ... duty, the criminal justice community must have adequate information about the nature and prevalence of hate crimes.† The Statistics shoe that the top two places for hate crimes to take place are in the street/alley and at a residence. In a 2002 statistic Mississippi was shown to have four total offenses, two in aggravated assault and two in intimidation. Mississippi standards are that the punishment may be doubled in any felony or misdemeanor act racially motivated. My opinion may be that any act resulting in death from a hate crime act should be sentenced to life to death in prison. Hate crimes can be murder or assault, or racially or religiously motivated. These cases prove the difference the people and the crime committed. â€Å"Erase the Hate.† Works Cited Ward v. Utah, March 10, 2003, 321 F. 3d 1263 Beckwith v. State, December 22, 1997, 707 So. 2d 547 James Bryd Jr., Berry v. State, July 27, 2001, Tex. App. – Beaumont, 2001. Not reported in S.W. 3d. State v. Ladue, July 01, 1993, 631 A. 2d 236 http://dir.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/Crime/Types_of_Crime/Hate_Crimes/ http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/hatecrime2002.pdf http://www.cnn.com/US/9904/05/gay.attack.trail.02/