Subject: gender: re--hate crimes
sverhoef@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu
Date: Thu Nov 11 1999 - 04:22:41 CST
I'm not as up on governance issues either (and I work for the gov't!),
but I think one thing FEDERAL hate crime legislation did was create an
avenue for the federal gov't to get involved in investigating these
types of crimes. So if you were in a local that was not responsive to
these issues, you could seek justice at a higher level. But I'm not
sure about that, because I think that the local level would have to
classify the crime as a hate crime before the feds could get involved.
But I think another thing that FED hate crime legislation did was set up
the data gathering and analyzing apparatus that can tell us-- "Town X
has an extraordinarily high level of violent crime, yet is not reporting
ANY hate crimes. I wonder what that's about."
So, ya know, it's a lot more complicated issue that it appears on the
surface. Addressing crime involves much more than just setting the
level of punishment.
I heard last year, during a sunset review of FED hate crime legislation,
that if GENDER (as opposed to sexual orientation) were included, it
would bankrupt the federal law enforcement resources because so many
women are targeted for crime simply because of their gender.
Susan
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