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August 19, 2009
YOUNG VOICES
Hate Crimes - "A Savage Hypocrisy"
A new hate crime bill, which would increase the punishments under federal law for hate-motivated violent acts based on gender, sexual orientation, sexual identity, and disability, will not make it past the President's desk. And for good reason.
Everyone is entitled to equal protection under the law. Beating anyone is a crime, whether the intent behind the beating is to steal a wallet or because of the victim's personal characteristics. The legal system should not give preferential treatment to certain classes who experience violent crimes...anyone who experiences a crime deserves justice.
As Trey Parker eloquently explained in his hit show, South Park:
"it is time to stop splitting people into groups. All hate crimes do is support the idea that blacks are different from whites, that homosexuals need to be treated differently from non-homos, that we aren't the same. But instead, we should all be treated the same, with the same laws and the same punishments for the same crimes."
If we really desire to live in a society where justice is blind, then our laws should reflect that desire.
Read a different opinion on expanding the hate crime law.
