It May Take More Than Hate to Qualify as a Hate Crime - Seattle Jewish Center Shooting

Seattle Times ^ | 8/1/06 | Miker Carter

[bigred4u]

Odd as it may seem, hate alone is not enough to warrant federal hate-crime charges.

State and federal prosecutors spent Monday weighing the pending prosecution of Naveed Afzal Haq, the 30-year-old man accused of killing one employee and wounding five others in a shooting rampage at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle on Friday. Haq allegedly stated he was angry at Israel and Jews as he stalked the federation's hallways, indiscriminately shooting workers before surrendering to police.

"Hate by itself is not enough," Miyake said. "It's sort of hate-'plus.' "

The "plus," Miyake explained, requires the government to prove that more than race, religious preference or national origin was a factor in the crime. "You also have to be able to show that the individual was interfering with a federally protected right," such as voting, using interstate commerce or attempting to use a public facility.

[bigred4u]

So now we find that hate crimes must have some element of voting rights - who knew!

[Steve_Seattle]

"You also have to be able to show that the individual was interfering with a federally protected right," such as voting, using interstate commerce or attempting to use a public facility.

My initial reaction is that this is BS, that they just want to avoid charging a Muslim with a hate crime.

[pipecorp]

only straight wasps can be charged with hate crimes.

[vimto]

Isn't all murder 'hate crime' by definition? Does what we think make murder worse. In the UK it does due to a recent law - leading to stupid sentencing.

[randog]

"Hate by itself is not enough," Miyake said. "It's sort of hate-'plus.' "

Ahhhhhhh...one of those "subtle nuances" you liberals are always telling us about, right?

[bigred4u]

Exactly, and how does a hate crime against a gay person have to do with voting rights?

[DBrow]

Will this impact existing hate crime convictions?

There was a young man who defaced a "rainbow triangle" on a Unitarian church's sign with a marking pen, and he was brought up on "hate crime" charges (got community service and a fine iirc).

Much more serious, I guess, than actually shooting people.

Or, if Haq did NOT commit a hate crime, then I guess many others who were convicted may win on appeal.

[jwalburg]

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Seattle has successfully prosecuted hate crimes in the past. In the most recent high-profile prosecution, a 54-year-old Snohomish man, Patrick Cunningham, received a 6 ½-year prison sentence in 2002 after he set fire to cars and threatened worshippers with a gun at the Idris Mosque in North Seattle two days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Mosque: Yes, Jewish center: Sorry.

[Adder]

"Hate by itself is not enough," Miyake said. "It's sort of hate-'plus..."

Precisely what is wrong with "hate crime" "laws".:they cannot be understood by a reasonable and rational observer but are instead left up to the interpretation of an interested party, in this case the state.

Since it is an irrational law, it should be stricken. This particular perp should be charged with 1st degree murder and thrown not just in but under the jail.

[saganite]

Please. Certain speech has been branded a hate crime. Obviously killing a jew then saying you killed someone specifically because they are a jew doesn't count?

I think this kind of nonsense is really very instructive. It's obvious now that the hate crime laws weren't written for everyone. It can only be a hate crime if certain protected groups are involved. Everyone else, and this apparently includes jews, aren't covered.

Still, the guy will be tried for murder and attempted murder. That should be sufficient to lock him up forever

[DBrow]

http://www.splcenter.org/intel/hatewatch/fortherecord.jsp

I took a gander at Southern Poverty Law Center. Many of the "hate crimes" listed involve "leafletting", which is the leaving of reading material for others to find.

Hate Graffiti is another common one.

So using the definition of "interfering with a Federally Protected Right", what does leafletting infringe?

[headsonpikes]

"You also have to be able to show that the individual was interfering with a federally protected right,"

It's more like "You also have to be able to show that prosecuting will further a left-wing agenda."

[Wings-n-Wind]

Bingo.... for both of your posts...

[Common Tator]

"You also have to be able to show that the individual was interfering with a federally protected right,"

How about the right to "LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS." It is a little hard to exercise those rights while DEAD!!!

[Sir Gawain]

Bending over backward for Muslims.

[jwalburg]

Look. You place bigoted flyers on car windshields, that's a hate crime. You slash the throat of an 80-year-old woman or pepper with bullets a co-worker who got a better evaluation and it's not. Couldn't be any clearer.

[tigtog]

Hate by itself is not enough: you have to have a white male heterosexual displaying hate towards a protected group to qualify. Hate Crime law is the affirmative action philosophy of law.

[SomeCallMeTim]

I'm sorry.. I have just NEVER understood the purpose of "hate crimes". Harboring ill will toward another race or class of people is NOT a crime. In fact, it's a constitutionally guaranteed right. ACTIONS that break laws, or harm people are crimes. And, it is the ACTIONS that should be punished.

If I am killed.... It doesn't matter to me WHY I was killed. Degrees of punishment for killing someone should be meted out based on the level of INTENTION to kill. If it's purely accidental, that's one level. Now, we have to determine whether reasonable negligence is involved.

If the killing was intentional, but spontaneous... not pre-planned, our system says that's another level. Pre-planned killing for WHATEVER reason, is the worst...and should be punished so.

Why oh why does it matter why?

[bmwcyle]

I remember when hate was just a motive for a crime.

[vimto]

Ha, I think I understand. I seem to remmeber that there was a bunch of Muslims who killed a white guy with racist verbals - but it wasn't a hate crime because they had assaulted people of all colours. Go figure.