Hate Crimes

Hate crime laws, which offer enhanced criminal penalties for criminal conduct motivated by "hatred", surfaced in the mid-1980s when self-proclaimed marginalized groups appropriated the language of "identity politics" and "victim's rights". Judicial doctrine on hate crimes derives from judicial doctrine on hate speech. Laws against hate speech aim to deter and punish expression of offensive, insulting, and threatening thoughts. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has advocated hate crimes legislation and centralized collection of hate crime statistics since the late 1970s. The National Association of Colored People called hate crimes "domestic terrorism" that is designed to intimidate whole communities on basis of "personal and immutable characteristics". This difference in presidential support along with large Democratic majorities in Congress after the 2008 election helped spur passage of the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act. The federal government has not preempted the investigative and prosecutorial powers of the states over hate crimes, hate crime legislation has only marginally increased the administrative scope of federal bureaucracy.