Criminology

This are crimes where the defendants intentionally selects the victim because of the actual or perceived race, national origin, colour, gender, disability, ethnicity or the sexual orientation of a person. There has been an increase in the number of hate crimes and in the USA in 1997, 18 lives were lost due to violence emerging from hate crimes, a further 1375 violent crimes to individuals on basis of hate. Hate crimes send a clear message that some of us are unwelcome or not wanted in certain communities, hence very adverse psychological effects to the victims and communities affected.

Federal hate crimes
Section 245 of title 18 of the US Code only permits federal prosecution of hate crimes for intentional interference accompanied with the enjoyment of the fedral right or benefit. For the state to prosecute anyone for any case of hate, it must have evidence that the crime happened because the victim was enjoying a federally protected activity and the victim belongs to a certain membership.

Other federal laws related to hate crimes incorporates the Church Arson Prevention Act of 1996, which forbids deliberate desecration or damage to religious property as well as interference with the enjoyment of any persons exercise of religious beliefs. There is also the Fair Housing Act of 1968 which forbids violence related to housing on basis of religion, sex, handicap, national origin and race.

Some nongovernmental organizations in the US campaigned in 2007 for the enactment of the Hate Crime Prevention Act of 2007 as a principal federal measure to address bias crimes in US by providing for enhanced federal assistance to local law enforcement. It was sanctioned by members of the leadership conference on civil rights, as well as Human Rights First. The law was to bring hate crimes on basis of sexual orientation, gender, and disability bias to the federal state with an aim of combating them.

In support of the bill are 28 state attorney generals, leaders of the nations major police organizations and more than 280 national law enforcement professionals. From the field of law, the National Coalition of Public safety Officers, National sheriffs Association and Texas police chiefs mounted support for the same.

Hate crimes at Ohio
The state of Ohio adopted a revised code 2927.12 of Ohios ethnic intimidation law in 1987. The law ensures the penalty is one level higher the penalty for certain predicate offences if committed on basis of race, colour, religion or national origin of another person. The New Jersey advisory committee in 1989 received information from the New Jersey State police that racial and ethnic graffiti and vandalism were the hate crimes often reported to the state police and were committed by juveniles and not organized groups.

The Rhode Island Advisory of 1990, 9 also reported the existence of increasing racial and ethnic intolerance between minority communities and the white community. Members of the south Asian Community received brutal treatment from the white counterparts and also members of the Hispanic community were under harassment by co workers

The population of Ohio is predominantly white, but there is a large number of ethnic and racial discrimination on some ethnic minorities. Ohios ethnic intimidation bill was passed with bipartisan support in 1987 after reports from the attorney generals office showed that the rates were alarming. The statute calls for enhanced penalty when certain felonies are motivated by Racial, religious or ethnic bias. However the United Nations Supreme Court unanimously reversed the decision by the Wisconsin Supreme Court and held the statute to be constitutional. On June 14, 1993 the court took action in the Ohio case by vacating the decision of the Ohio Supreme Court. From this context it is clear that the federal law is thwarting the efforts of the states hate law on some statutes

Comparison of the laws
The laws have eliminated the requirement of prosecutors to demonstrate that victims were targeted expressly because of a persons participation in one of the six federally protected categories. They have also received massive support from civil, human rights activists and the attorney general. Above all, they are aimed at protecting the rights of the minority in society

On the other hand there are differences in that the federal law seems to be undermining the state laws. The state laws have speaker bureaus for example Mr. Karas who argued in defense of the statute in Ohios constitution on intimidation law, R.C 2927.12, particularly the penalty enhancing provision.
Also some forms of speech according to the federal law that dont have backup from the constitution of any state can be regulated by the government and they include abusive words directed to an ordinary person and are likely to be that basis of violence speech which is aimed at inciting lawless actions and true threats of violence against an individual or group of individuals. The fore mentioned should be avoided as the constitution is unlikely to protect any of its state members from the wrath of the federal law.

The Ohio Hate Crimes and Prevention Act should be used to amend the federal law to include sexual laws so that the FBI can be given a go ahead to investigate and prosecute violent hate crimes against gays, lesbians and bisexuals as provided for by the state hate laws.