The Complexities of Hate Crimes

Glenn Ricketts

Jackson Toby, a long-time NAS member and professor emeritus of sociology at Rutgers University, examines the recent "bias crimes" conviction Dharun Ravi, a former undergraduate at the university in this piece over at Minding the Campus.  

The case attracted national attention: Ravi had posted a video of an encounter between his gay roommate and another man, after which the roommate committed suicide.

But tragic as that was, Toby examines how exactly "bias" fits into the case amid many other factors, and finds that it often adds needless layers of complexity and necessitates questionably harsher penalties.  A major part of the problem, he concludes, is that "bias," like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.  The penalty for it, on the other hand, is set in stone.

At the same time, Hans Bader of the Competitive Enterprise Institute argues that New Jersey's "hate crimes" law is of a piece with similar anti-bullying and anti-harassment legislation which is increasingly weighted against the accused.

 

  • Share

Most Commented

January 24, 2024

1.

After Claudine

The idea has caught on that the radical left overplayed its hand in DEI and is now vulnerable to those of us who seek major reforms. This is not, however, the first time that the a......

February 13, 2024

2.

The Great Academic Divorce with China

All signs show that American education is beginning a long and painful divorce with the People’s Republic of China. But will academia go through with it?...

October 31, 2023

3.

University of Washington Violated Non-Discrimination Policy, Internal Report Finds

A faculty hiring committee at the University of Washington “inappropriately considered candidates’ races when determining the order of offers,” provided “disparate op......

Most Read

May 15, 2015

1.

Where Did We Get the Idea That Only White People Can Be Racist?

A look at the double standard that has arisen regarding racism, illustrated recently by the reaction to a black professor's biased comments on Twitter....

October 12, 2010

2.

Ask a Scholar: What is the True Definition of Latino?

What does it mean to be Latino? Are only Latin American people Latino, or does the term apply to anyone whose language derived from Latin?...

July 8, 2011

3.

Ask a Scholar: What Is Structural-Functionalism, Conflict Theory and Symbolic Interactionism?

Professor Jonathan Imber clarifies concepts of sociologocal theory....