Howie Klein at firedoglake calls out Chris Carney (PA-10) for opposing the Hate Crimes Bill. Atrios makes him the wanker of the day. I understand. I really do. And I feel Klein’s pain that he feels he was misled. But, I actually agree with Carney on this and do not think his vote is a betrayal of gay rights.
The bill had a lot of laudable things in it…especially funds to help local police combat hate crimes. But, at the end of the day, it was a bill to set sentencing standards based on the perceived motivations of people that commit violent crime. I have never supported doing that. And I don’t question Carney’s sincerity in opposing the legislation for the reasons that he has stated.
Here is what I think.
During sentencing, a judge and a jury should be able to consider mitigating and aggravating factors. Beating someone up just because they are gay should be a valid aggravating factor in sentencing. But it shouldn’t be a separate charge. That introduces too much ambiguity into the judicial process.
If you are facing a range of 5-10 years for assault and battery, the fact that your crime was motivated by homophobia, racism, or misogyny should be considered and used against you. But that is all. If someone beats me up because they hate white men, and I can demonstrate that that was their primary motivation in assaulting me, then that should be an aggravating factor in sentencing. But no one should be more protected than me just because they are more likely to be a victim of a hate crime. A hate crime is a hate crime.
