Hate Crimes in Tennessee: Statistics, Impact, and Policy, Slides of Psychology

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Hate Crimes in Tennessee

Goals of Today

• The definition of hate/bias crime and the government's policy in addressing hate/bias crime.
• Describe the impact of hate crime on victims and the community.
• Identify ways for victim advocates to meet the needs of hate/bias crime victims.
• Identify ways for police and prosecutors to pursue offenders engaged in hate crimes.
• Identify the different types of hate/bias crime offenders.
• Identify specific needs of individual victims, and the community they represent, as well as ways that victim service providers can effectively meet such needs.

Defining Hate/Bias Crimes

Prejudice

Discriminatory Behavior

Hate Incidents

Hate Crimes

Hate/Bias Crimes

A hate crime occurs when the perpetrator of the

crime intentionally selects the victim because of who

the victim is. Hate crimes rend the fabric of our

society and fragment communities because they

target an entire community or group of people, not

just the individual victim. However, in most cases,

current law prevents the federal government from

assisting state and local authorities (The Human Rights

Campaign).

National Statistics

(2007, U.S. Department of Justice-Uniform Crime Report)

An analysis of data for victims of single-bias hate crime incidents showed that:

• 52.0 percent of the victims were targeted because of the offender’s bias against a race.
• 17.1 percent were victimized because of a bias against a religious belief.
• 15.9 percent were targeted because of a bias against a particular sexual orientation.
• 14.1 percent were victimized because of a bias against an ethnicity/national origin.
• 0.9 percent were targeted because of a bias against a disability.

National Statistics

(2007, U.S. Department of Justice-Uniform Crime Report)

Racial bias

Among the single-bias hate crime incidents in 2007, there were 4,956 victims of racially motivated hate crime.

• 69.3 percent were victims of an offender’s anti-black bias.
• 18.3 percent were victims of an anti-white bias.
• 4.7 percent were victims of an anti-Asian/Pacific Islander bias.
• 1.5 percent were victims of an anti-American Indian/Alaskan Native bias.
• 6.1 percent were victims of a bias against a group of individuals in which more than one race was represented (anti-multiple races, group).

National Statistics

(2007, U.S. Department of Justice-Uniform Crime Report)

Sexual-orientation bias

Of the 1,512 victims targeted due to a sexual-orientation bias:

• 58.9 percent were victims of an offender’s anti-male homosexual bias.
• 24.8 percent were victims of an anti-homosexual bias.
• 13.0 percent were victims of an anti-female homosexual bias.
• 1.8 percent were victims of an anti-heterosexual bias.
• 1.5 percent were victims of an anti-bisexual bias.

National Statistics

(2007, U.S. Department of Justice-Uniform Crime Report)

Ethnicity/national origin bias

Hate crimes motivated by the offender’s bias toward a particular ethnicity/national origin were directed at 1,347 victims. Of these victims:

• 61.6 percent were targeted because of an anti-Hispanic bias.
• 38.4 percent were victimized because of a bias against other ethnicities/national origins.

Tennessee Statistics

(2007, Annual Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Hate Crimes Report)

• There were 445 Hate crimes in TN in 2007.
• Hate crimes are one of the only areas of increase in

crimes in TN from 2006 -2008.

• Hate crimes increased 27.5% from 2006-07.
• 44.8% of Hate crimes in TN occurred in West TN.

Tennessee Statistics

(2007, Annual Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Hate Crimes Report)

Victims

• Racial hates crimes are the most common in TN. African Americans are the most frequent victims of racial hate crimes.
• Males were the most frequently victimized in TN racial bias cases.
• 18 – 24 is the most common age of the victims.

Offenders

• Most frequent race of the offenders was white.
• Most frequent gender of the offenders was male.
• Most frequent age of the offenders was 25 – 34.

Federal Policy and Hate/Bias Crimes

The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act / Matthew Shepard Act

S. 909, H.R. 1913 and H.R. 1913 The LLEHCPA was introduced in the 111th Congress by Representatives John Conyers (D-MI) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) in the House, and the Matthew Shepard Act was introduced by Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) in the Senate. On April 29, 2009, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1913 by a vote of 249-175.

State Policy and Hate/Bias Crimes

All but five states (Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, South

Carolina and Wyoming) have laws addressing

hate crimes, but there is variation in the list of protected

Classes HRC, 2009).

14 states have laws addressing hate/bias crimes, but do

not include sexual orientation or gender identity (HRC, 2009).

Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Mississippi, Montana, North

Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South

Dakota, Utah (no categories listed), Virginia and West

Virginia.

State Policy and Hate/Bias Crimes

31 states, including Tennessee, have a law that addresses

hate or bias crimes based on sexual orientation but not

gender identity (HRC, 2009).

In addition to those previously listed, Arizona (2003), Delaware (2001), Florida (2001), Illinois (2001), Iowa (2002), Kansas (2002), Kentucky (2001), Louisiana (2002), Maine (2001), Massachusetts (2002), Michigan (2002- data collection only), Nebraska (2002), Nevada (2001), New Hampshire (2002), New York (2002), Rhode Island (2001), Tennessee (2001), Texas (2002), and Wisconsin (2002).

Tennessee Public Policy and Hate/Bias

Crimes

• SB 0253 HB 0335
• • Enhancement factor - basis in gender identity or expression. Requires the court to consider whether a defendant intentionally chose a victim of crime based on gender identity or expression in determining whether to enhance a defendant's sentence. Thus, adds to present law advisory enhancement factor for sentencing a defendant who intentionally chose a victim of crime, in whole or in part, because of the victim's race, religion, color, disability, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry or gender. (S: Marrero; H: Richardson)