There is a slightly longer story at Joe.My.God (below link), however, I’m interested in exploring a different aspect of this case and issue. What is the relationship between homophobia, violence, and hate crimes?
Prosecutors announced today that they will be retrying teenage murderer Brandon McInerney as an adult and with no hate crime embellishment to the charges. A mistrial was declared last month after some jurors refused to convict McInerney as an adult. Those jurors have since formed a support group for McInerney.
After the Bloomfield Homophobia Rally, I was surprised to learn that Lauren Jurista hoped that the incident she experienced (a gun waved in her face accompanied with anti-gay epithets) could spark work n Pennsylvania’s Hate Crimes legislation. In other words, for some, Hate Crimes seems like an avenue to getting violent crimes, including murder against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans persons diminished.
In the linked story, the police are willing to let go of the Hate Crimes designation, and care more about trying McInerney as an adult. Why is that and what if anything does it tell us about the use or value of Hate Crimes legislation overall?
Not everyone is a fan of Hate Crimes legislation. The ACLU has generally been silent as the LGBT community pushed for Hate Crimes. As I understand their position, Hate Crimes can lead to a 2 tier level of justice, and in reality- for justice to be justice- the punishment for crimes needs to be measired based on the crime, not upon a perceived intention or motivation. Without a doubt, it isn’t fair to try someone based upon their thoughts, but in most cases, there is little doubt when homophobia is the motivator for a hate crime.
Part of the solution I believe has to include a broadening conversation about all forms of violence where some aspect of a person (race, gender, sexual orientation) is the prevailing source of the violence. Another part of the solution must be equal treatment by the law across all levels of jurisdiction. For example, for the Federal Government to cionsider something a hate crime, but for the state to not accept that, dillutes any value the hate crime status might carry.
via Joe. My. God.: Brandon McInerney To Be Retried As An Adult, Hate Crime Charge Dropped