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Originally Posted by Supple Cow
I happen to think differentiating between hate crimes and other crimes is entirely appropriate, but I don't think this particular crime was motivated by the fact that the victims were white girls. Those boys probably would have beat up another group of black boys the same way if they were hogging the court. Anyway, to all you "a crime is a crime" folks, the difference between motivations is significant to me and the more severe punishment for hate crimes doesn't take anything away from the fact that another kind of crime is still a crime.
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The main issue is whether or not there was intent behind it. Accidental crime warrants lesser punishment. Heat of the moment crime also warrants the same thing. Planned crime warrants the most significant punishment. Anything else invovled in motivation is simply different facets of the same thing, and should not be treated differently.
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