Lecture 2

Question 1

Definition of hate crime: Brian Leven

Answer 1

Hate crimes are “discriminatory criminal acts committed because of someone’s actual or perceived membership in a particular socially identifiable status group.”

Question 2

Definition of hate crime: Wolf and Copeland

Answer 2

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.”

Question 3

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Answer 3

• adopted by the UN in 1948
• established dignity, liberty, and equality as international values and identified rights considered basic to all people

Question 4

In addition to the UDHR, the UN adopted two important international conventions

Answer 4

the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights and the International Convention on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights

Question 5

In 1948, the UN also adopted

Answer 5

the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide

Question 6

In 1965 the UN adopted

Answer 6

the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Racial Discrimination

Question 7

Cohen report

Answer 7

• 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

Question 8

There was greater awareness of hate crime in Canada after

Answer 8

• two waves of hateful activity engaged by organized hate groups
• Concerns about Canadian youth falling victim to racist Ideologies

Question 9

R. v Keegstra

Answer 9

Teacher convicted for spreading hatred in his highschool classrooms, claiming the holocaust did not occur and saying other antisemitic statements

Question 10

Significance of R. v Keegstra

Answer 10

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

Question 11

When did multiculturalism become women into Canadian public policy?

Answer 11

Late 70s- 80s

Question 12

Section 27 of the Canadian Charter

Answer 12

makes multiculturalism part of the Canadian framework

Question 13

When was the Canadian Multiculturalism Act passed?

Answer 13

passed in 1998

Question 14

Canadian Multiculturalism Act: cultural freedom

Answer 14

Promotes cultural diversity and the right to preserve and share heritage.

Question 15

Canadian Multiculturalism Act: Identity

Answer 15

Multiculturalism is central to Canada’s heritage and future.

Question 16

Canadian Multiculturalism Act: Equal participation

Answer 16

Supports full, equitable participation in society and removes barriers.

Question 17

Canadian Multiculturalism Act: Community contributions

Answer 17

Recognizes contributions of communities with shared origins and promotes their development.

Question 18

Canadian Multiculturalism Act: Equal Treatment

Answer 18

Ensures equal rights and protection, respecting diversity.

Question 19

Reforms to sentencing in Canada: the late 1970s

Answer 19

The federal and provincial governments began a comprehensive overhaul of criminal justice in Canada

Question 20

Bill C-90

Answer 20

• Introduced in 1993 with a new framework for sentencing
• Outlines why we sentence
• Procedures on sentencing

Question 21

CC section 718.2

Answer 21

• 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

Question 22

Canadian anti-hate laws: section 318.1

Answer 22

Advocating genocide

Question 23

Canadian anti-hate laws: 319.1

Answer 23

Public incitement of hatred

Question 24

Canadian anti-hate laws: 319.2

Answer 24

Willful promotion of hatred

Question 25

Canadian anti-hate laws: 430 (4.1)

Answer 25

Mischief to religious property

Question 26

The emergence of hate crime awareness in the US

Answer 26

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.

Question 27

Social movements were able to successfully

Answer 27

redefine hate crime from an issue of individual victimization to a larger social issue requiring institutional responses.

Question 28

The case of James Bryd Jr

Answer 28

• 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

Question 29

The case of Matthew Shepard

Answer 29

Severely beaten and tortured because of the assailant’s claim that he made a sexual advance on him

Question 30

Arguments in favour of hate crime law

Answer 30

• 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.

Question 31

Arguments against hate crime laws

Answer 31

• 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.