Hate___Bias_Crime

Hate / Bias Crime Running head: HATE CRIME The Hate Crime is violence or harassment motivated by a bias against a victim’s characteristics which include race, religion, ethnic background, national origin, gender, or sexual orientation, and represents a serious threat to all communities. Experts estimate that a bias-related crime is committed every 14 minutes. Criminal justice officials and state policy makers need to realize that it is key to make or adjust hate crime legislation. This has been a heated debate for the last century. I think more hate crime legislation is the key to solving the ever-growing problem of hate crimes. The first legislative efforts to address bias-related crimes dated back to the late 19th century, which was a response to the expanding Ku Klux Klan and segregation in the south. Such laws included mandates against wearing masks and hoods. The next wave of legislation relating to hate crimes resulted from the movement for increased protection for civil rights in the face of widespread racial prejudice shown by segregated buildings and restricted access to public and private resources. The most recent legislation has been directed specifically to acts of hate against people of race, religion, gender, hate, crimes, crime, against, people, because, legislation, law, say, laws, think, should, states, sexual, orientation, man, homosexuals, argument, united, someone, same, religion, really, race, need, murder, motivated, give, gender, act, violence, victim’s, victims, severe, said