Punishing Hatred and Prejudice

The legislative context of prejudice motivated victimisation: perceptions of police legitimacy and citizen decisions to report hate crime incidents

“…Opponents of PMC legislation argue that PMCs are thought crimes, and PMC legislation "punish[es] individuals for politically incorrect ideas" (Blazak, 2011, p. 252). Hurd and Moore (2004) argue that PMC legislation penalizes 'hate' and the bad character of an offender and unfairly targets an offender's worldview and character, by punishing personal beliefs, opinions and dispositions (Al-Hakim, motivated violence and argues that legislators did not create hate crime laws to punish opinions but to punish the consequences of violent behaviour.…”

“…The reaction to prejudice motivated crime -PMC legislation -also carries a message condemning racist and prejudiced behaviour. Supporters of PMC legislation advocate the expressive and symbolic character of such laws (Beale, 2000), where the punishment delivers a message counteracting the message of the crime itself (Hurd & Moore, 2004). The French sociologist Emile Durkheim has suggested that the expressive nature of the criminal law conveys the disapproval of society towards an offence, and with it repairs threats to society (Berard, 2010).…”

“…Berard (2010) highlights that Durkheim's theory about the law and its expressive function display that society is more likely to share the same opinion on the most serious offenses, such as murder, rape and terrorism, but because PMC legislation is a more recent development, it lacks a collective understanding. Hurd and Moore (2004) make the argument that if the expressive character of the law when promoting PMC legislation is important, the perpetrators that have not received the message will also be punished. Hurd and Moore (2004) conclude that such punishment is unjust and undeserved and can only be corrected by not enforcing PMC legislation.…”

“…Hurd and Moore (2004) make the argument that if the expressive character of the law when promoting PMC legislation is important, the perpetrators that have not received the message will also be punished. Hurd and Moore (2004) conclude that such punishment is unjust and undeserved and can only be corrected by not enforcing PMC legislation. Beale (2000) goes as far as keeping the symbolic character of PMC legislation but not prosecuting such cases, therefore just relying on morality.…”

“…Beale (2000) goes as far as keeping the symbolic character of PMC legislation but not prosecuting such cases, therefore just relying on morality. Hurd and Moore (2004) admit that this will result in losing the condemnation factor of the law.…”