There is a federal law against hate crimes (also known as bias crimes), which are defined as crimes in which the perpetrator is motivated by how he or she feels about certain kinds of people who belong to a category protected by the law. The federal law was passed in 1969, and a number of states have also passed similar laws. In most cases, the protected categories include race, religion, gender, disability, and sexual orientation, with this latter category having been added more recently. In addition to specifying what groups are protected by these laws, most of them also include enhanced penalties that are required when the law is violated. This means that the penalties are harsher not because a specific crime was committed, but because the crime was inflicted on someone protected by the hate crime law.

You may find the following resource helpful. It is an interactive map of the United States, and you can click on any state for information about that state's hate crimes law(s).

Assignment Guidelines

• In 5-6 paragraphs, address the following:
  1. Is there a hate or bias crime law in existence in your state?
     • If not, select a neighboring state to examine so that you are able to complete the assignment.
     • If you live outside of the United States, pick any state to examine that has these laws.
  2. What are the key provisions of this law?
  3. Which groups are protected from hate or bias crimes under this state's law?
  4. In your view, what are the pros and cons of hate crimes laws?
  5. In your view, why do you feel that they exist, and what purposes are they intended to serve?