Lecture 2 Flashcards
Definition of hate crime: Brian Leven
Hate crimes are “discriminatory criminal acts committed because of someone’s actual or perceived membership in a particular socially identifiable status group.”
Definition of hate crime: Wolf and Copeland
Violence directed towards groups of people who generally are not valued by the majority of society, who suffer discrimination in other areas, and who do not have full access to remedy social, political and economic injustice.”
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- adopted by the UN in 1948
- established dignity, liberty, and equality as international values and identified rights considered basic to all people
In addition to the UDHR, the UN adopted two important international conventions
the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights and the International Convention on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights
In 1948, the UN also adopted
the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
In 1965 the UN adopted
the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Racial Discrimination
Cohen report
- introduced in 1965 in Canada
- The mandate was to ascertain the nature and scope of hate propaganda present in Canada
- Some of its conclusions stressed that although the extent of the problem in Canada was limited to a relatively small number of people, such activity could create a climate of malice and destructiveness to the core values of Canadian society
There was greater awareness of hate crime in Canada after
- two waves of hateful activity engaged by organized hate groups
- Concerns about Canadian youth falling victim to racist Ideologies
R. v Keegstra
Teacher convicted for spreading hatred in his highschool classrooms, claiming the holocaust did not occur and saying other antisemitic statements
Significance of R. v Keegstra
Case tested whether or not hate crimes were constitutional in Canada; Keegstra contested the charges by claiming they violated his rights, but lost in court
When did multiculturalism become women into Canadian public policy?
Late 70s- 80s
Section 27 of the Canadian Charter
makes multiculturalism part of the Canadian framework
When was the Canadian Multiculturalism Act passed?
passed in 1998
Canadian Multiculturalism Act: cultural freedom
Promotes cultural diversity and the right to preserve and share heritage.
Canadian Multiculturalism Act: Identity
Multiculturalism is central to Canada’s heritage and future.
Canadian Multiculturalism Act: Equal participation
Supports full, equitable participation in society and removes barriers.
Canadian Multiculturalism Act: Community contributions
Recognizes contributions of communities with shared origins and promotes their development.
Canadian Multiculturalism Act: Equal Treatment
Ensures equal rights and protection, respecting diversity.
Reforms to sentencing in Canada: the late 1970s
The federal and provincial governments began a comprehensive overhaul of criminal justice in Canada
Bill C-90
- Introduced in 1993 with a new framework for sentencing
- Outlines why we sentence
- Procedures on sentencing
CC section 718.2
- Introduced in 1996
- includes sentencing enhancing principles where there is evidence that the offence was motivated by bias, prejudice or hate based on race, national or ethnic origin, language, colour, religion, sex, age, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation, or any other similar factor
Canadian anti-hate laws: section 318.1
Advocating genocide
Canadian anti-hate laws: 319.1
Public incitement of hatred
Canadian anti-hate laws: 319.2
Willful promotion of hatred
Canadian anti-hate laws: 430 (4.1)
Mischief to religious property
The emergence of hate crime awareness in the US
emerged in the 1980’s and was largely the result of the work of social movements, activist groups, and especially the victims’ rights movement who, through high profile incidents of hate crime, raised public awareness of bias motivated violence.
Social movements were able to successfully
redefine hate crime from an issue of individual victimization to a larger social issue requiring institutional responses.
The case of James Bryd Jr
- Walking down a highway trying to get home
- Sees a group of men passing by in a pickup truck who stopped to offer him a ride
- The men instead drove to an isolated area, severely beat Bryd, and chained him to the back of their pickup truck and drove a few miles down the road with him attached
The case of Matthew Shepard
Severely beaten and tortured because of the assailant’s claim that he made a sexual advance on him
Arguments in favour of hate crime law
- Absence of laws demonstrate a lack of recognition of hate crime
- Hate crimes terrorize communities and so deserve greater punishment.
- Hate crime is a major problem, requiring a state response.
- Some groups need hate crime legal protections because they are more vulnerable than others.
- Hate crime laws can help emphasize the importance of tolerance
- Hate crime laws can teach society that hatred is highly condemnable and mold society away from racism, sexism, etc.
Arguments against hate crime laws
- All violence is hate-driven, so why distinguish.
- Hate crimes cannot be proven to harm communities.
- Communities fear senseless violence as much as hate violence.
- Danger of arbitrary rulings accompanies hate crime laws.
- Hate crime laws are politically motivated.
- Hate crime laws won’t change hatred.
- Hate crime laws would only INCREASE racial tension.
