Comments on Advance Indiana™: South Bend Man Nearly Beaten To Death In Apparent Hate Crime

Sounds like Contreras got hit because he was makin...

2007-04-04T06:26:00.000-05:00

Sounds like Contreras got hit because he was making fun of his attacker's apparent gayness. Is it a hate crime to attack homophobes?

AI, your 11:38 post confirms exactly what the crit...

2007-04-03T14:47:00.000-05:00

AI, your 11:38 post confirms exactly what the critics of "hate crimes" are most adamately concerned about. The 11:32 post expresses another concern about trying to read a criminal's mind in order to understand his motivation. But your response defends putting people in different classes. You don't argue that it's okay for the criminal justice system to read people's intentions; rather, you argue that it is okay to classify vicitims and to change punishments accordingly. That's what you do when you compare crimes against a homosexual to crimes against "an elderly person, a child, a pregnant woman or a police officer." The extra punishments involving those groups are driven by the type of people contained in those groups, not the motivation of the offender.

With that in mind, what is the jusification for having stronger sentences for crimes against homosexuals? You've abandoned the "hate" argument and are now focused on classes of people. So, what is the reason for creating special protections for this class?

I agree with earlier posts: this guy ought to be prosecuted for the crime he committed. And my opinion does not change one bit based on the sexual orientation of the victim. Why does it change in your mind? Again, you've already abandoned the "hate" arguement. So why the special protections for a particular class? What makes a crime against you worse than the same crime against me?

"Either way it appears the attack was motivated by...

2007-04-03T12:10:00.000-05:00

"Either way it appears the attack was motivated by the perception of someone's sexual orientation."

How so? Sounds like it was motivated by horse play or continued unwanted sexual advances. Either way, answering back with a pipe swing is way too much!!!

Still, it seems homophobia is alive and well in So...

2007-04-03T12:00:00.000-05:00

Still, it seems homophobia is alive and well in South Bend...

Again, if you were familiar with our criminal laws...

2007-04-03T11:38:00.000-05:00

Again, if you were familiar with our criminal laws, you would understand degree of guilt can be inferred from a person's actions in light of the circumstances. A hate crime law simply establishes a degree of culpability for purposes of punishment. If you don't like that, then we need to scrap our entire criminal justice system because it's replete with those types of provisions. Let's get rid of the law enhancing the crime when the victim is an elderly person, a child, a pregnant woman or a police officer--all covered under current Indiana law for enhanced sentencing.

>Either way it APPEARS the attack was motivated by...

2007-04-03T11:32:00.000-05:00

>Either way it APPEARS the attack was motivated by the perception of someone's sexual orientation. (emphasis added)

This is a great example of why "hate crimes" legislation does not work. The most you can say about this and most other similar situations is something about APPEARANCE. The bottom line is you really don't know what the motivation is.

What we DO know is that it is illegal to beat somebody - regardless of their sexual orientation. So, prosecute this guy to the fullest extent of the law. He deserves it. Sexual orientation should not matter at all.

If you're not convinced of that - and I bet most people on this blog will not be - then consider the exact same situation but pretend the victim was, instead, a fat, ugly woman. Would this guy deserve any worse of a penalty for beating a homosexual man? I, for one, don't think so.