2nd degree is stuff like driving through people

If there were no hate crime laws all you'd need to do after killing someone is say "because I hate his race" and they'd have to let you go free, right

Or shooting someone by mistake

lol

It depends upon the state shiv

@Schedrevka no, hate crime laws are almost always just an amplifier on the punishment.

That's the joke

So if I kill a black guy

If I say nigger while doing it

Oh, sorry, I guess I got whoosed.

That means that'd be worse

Generally it goes Manslaughter aka accident, 2nd degree - heat of the moment, and 1st degree - premediatated

@Deleted User yes. Exactly how it works.

But if you kill someone of another race and say "I love you people btw" I think then they do actually have to let you go free

Than just killing him

So stupid

A hate crime+regular crime = double crime, but a love crime+regular crime = no crime

It's to deter racial violence. Stuff like street gangs and stuff

@Schedrevka *Kills a kraut*
"I love Nazis btw"
*Goes free*

Whoa, powerful

Which makes me wonder

Are hate crime laws a step towards Thought crime?

Like think about it

If I kill a black guy while reading huckleberry finn

Is that hate crime

Who decides if it's a hate crime

Or you support trump and kill a mexicn

That'a a big problem with it for sure, unless explicitly stated there's no way for anyone but the perpetrator to know.

Who decides the intent

Unless the culprit declares it, that is

Like even the grand dragon of the KKK can kill a black dude for reasons other than his race, but he'd likely still be slapped with those extra charges were that the case

Because someone else decided it for him

Or that he can easily lie about his intent

I honestly haven't heard of too many cases of hate crime supplements that didn't seem to have some kind of clean line.

Like, clearly racist posts on Facebook or something.

Basically the prosecution has to demonstrate its a hate crime

It's not an easy bar either iirc

Burden of proof and innocent until proven guilty

But then you're prosecuting someone for making racist posts on facebook, not for actually committing a hate crime.

No, intent is one of the most difficutl bars in the entire judical system

I love, love, love Blackstone.