{"id":136854,"date":"2018-06-29T13:23:01","date_gmt":"2018-06-29T19:23:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=136854"},"modified":"2018-09-05T18:49:20","modified_gmt":"2018-09-06T00:49:20","slug":"abusing-hate-crime-statutes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2018\/06\/29\/abusing-hate-crime-statutes.html","title":{"rendered":"Abusing hate crime statutes"},"content":{"rendered":"

I've never been fond of hate crime laws, just because the seem to be so subjective, esp. along the fringes. Here's another reason against them: abuse of such laws by the police.<\/p>\n

❝ On Sept. 23, 2016, Robbie Sanderson, a 52-year-old Black man from North Carolina, was arrested for retail theft by in Crafton, a small town near Pittsburgh. During the arrest, Sanderson called police “Nazis,” “skinheads” and “Gestapo,” according to an affidavit of probable cause filed by the Crafton Borough police. For that, he was charged with a hate crime.<\/i> ❞<\/p>\n

That stemmed from this part:<\/p>\n

❝ After Sanderson called the police derogatory names, the affidavit states, he also told them “that’s why motherfuckers are killing y’all out here” and “all you cops just shoot people for no reason.” And police said that Sanderson told one officer, Brian Tully, that he was going to find his wife and have sex with her.<\/i> ❞<\/p>\n

That part qualified for 1st degree misdemeanor "terroristic threats" — but Pennsylvania's ethnic intimidation \/ hate crime law boosts the severity by a tick. Since the police claimed that the ethnic intimidation showed a racial bias behind the terroristic threats, the crime was filed as a 3rd degree felony.<\/p>\n

All of which sounds very different from what most people would call terroristic threats, or how they might view the normal way that ethnic intimidation works.<\/p>\n

Of course, as the article notes, the ethnic intimidation part is sort of there more as a bargaining chip than anything else. The vast majority of such cases reviewed showed the charge was dropped, usually (as in this case) as part of a plea deal. That's how a lot of these charges are used by police and prosecutors — "Well, you're looking at 25 years when we put you away, but if you cop to this graciously reduced reduced set of charges, it means you'll only do 5" — and thus why they are tossed around so easily and quickly and imaginatively. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n
\n
\n<\/a>
\nA Black Man Called The Cops Nazis–And Was Charged With A Hate Crime<\/a><\/span>
\nA Pennsylvania hate crime statute is being used by law enforcement to punish angry arrestees.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Original Post<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I've never been fond of hate crime laws, just because the seem to be so subjective, esp. along the fringes. Here's another reason against them: abuse of such laws by the police. ❝ On Sept. 23, 2016, Robbie Sanderson, a 52-year-old Black man from North Carolina, was arrested for retail theft by in Crafton, a … Continue reading “Abusing hate crime statutes”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106,350,715,17,358,740],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-136854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plusposts","category-civil-liberties","category-crime-punishment","category-homeland-security","category-poor-citizenship","category-race-racism"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13369,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/01\/09\/don_armstrong_plot_thicke.html","url_meta":{"origin":136854,"position":0},"title":"Don Armstrong plot thickens","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 9-Jan-09 5:34pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Don Armstrong, former priest in the Episcopal Church, led his conservative congregation of Grace & St Stephens in Colorado Spring out of the Epicopal fold a jump ahead of...","rel":"","context":"In "Episcopal Church"","block_context":{"text":"Episcopal Church","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/religion\/religion-episcopal-church"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/episcshield.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":132618,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/01\/23\/resistance-is-futile-and-now-punishable-as-a-hate-crime.html","url_meta":{"origin":136854,"position":1},"title":"Resistance is Futile (and Now Punishable as a Hate Crime)","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 23-Jan-17 12:05pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The charge of \"Resisting Arrest\" is logical: if someone resists arrest by a law enforcement officer, there should be consequences, as the alternative is a clear moral hazard (\"Hey, I'm going to get arrested, so I might as well get my licks in\"). It is also a charge that is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16067,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/10\/22\/congress-passes-hate-crime-protection-for-gays.html","url_meta":{"origin":136854,"position":2},"title":"Congress passes hate crime protection for gays","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 22-Oct-09 4:56pm","format":false,"excerpt":"And you'd think the sky is falling. Physical attacks on people based on their sexual orientation will join the list of federal hate crimes in a major expansion of the civil rights-era law Congress approved Thursday and sent to President Barack Obama. A priority of the late Sen. Edward M.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "LGBTQ &c"","block_context":{"text":"LGBTQ &c","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/gay-stuff"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29850,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/08\/16\/there-are-hate-crimes-and-then-there-are-hate-crimes.html","url_meta":{"origin":136854,"position":3},"title":"There are hate crimes, and then there are hate crimes","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 16-Aug-12 9:23am","format":false,"excerpt":"I run hot and cold on hate crime laws -- though I try to do so not based on the particular protected class, but over the concept. \u00a0On the one hand, I have a sympathy for the position (such as the FRC takes) that violent criminal activity is already illegal,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43412,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/07\/09\/literal-highway-robbery.html","url_meta":{"origin":136854,"position":4},"title":"Literal Highway Robbery","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 9-Jul-14 6:15pm","format":false,"excerpt":"If forfeiture laws (a) included a rigorous requirement of a criminal conviction, or at least a preponderance of the evidence that the assets involved were the results of or the tools for a crime, and (b) didn't directly profit law enforcement, then I suspect this sort of crap wouldn't be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":128629,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/11\/07\/when-should-assaulting-the-police-be-a-special-crime.html","url_meta":{"origin":136854,"position":5},"title":"When should assaulting the police be a special crime?","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 7-Nov-15 1:09pm","format":false,"excerpt":"I can see the argument that police, when on-duty, are representing the state and citizenry, and that assault on them is legitimately considered a special sort of attack against us all. But should special penalties apply when a law enforcement officer is off duty? While I can imagine cases (as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136854"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136854\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":136961,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136854\/revisions\/136961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}