Hate Crimes

Two things brought this post to fruition: a conversation with a friend over my opposition to hate crimes statutes and the recent passage of the Matthew Shepherd Act (adding homosexuality among other attributes to federal hate crime statutes) in the house.

As a gay man myself, this comes after very deep and considerable amounts of thought:

A crime is a crime. It is made no worse by the fact that a crime is committed against someone due to their immutable or projected characteristics. If a person is attacked on the basis of skin color or homosexuality the perpetrator does not deserve a more severe punishment therein than an equal crime committed without the same intent. If anything, the punishment in general should be raised. We cannot truly know an intention. Therefore, the government should not act as big brother by believing that it can divine the intentions of individuals.