Hate Crime Statutes

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-vii

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2. Introduction

   • Frank S. Pezzella

   Pages 1-12

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3. The Legacy of Hate Crimes in American History

   • Frank S. Pezzella

   Pages 13-27

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4. The Case for Hate Crime Statutes-Putative Uniqueness of Injuries

   • Frank S. Pezzella

   Pages 29-34

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5. Offenders, Victims, and Situational Characteristics of the Hate Crime Incident

   • Frank S. Pezzella

   Pages 35-44

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6. Legislative Responses to Hate Crimes

   • Frank S. Pezzella

   Pages 45-51

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7. Constitutional and Public Policy Issues

   • Frank S. Pezzella

   Pages 53-63

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8. The Law Enforcement and Prosecution Dilemma

   • Frank S. Pezzella

   Pages 65-75

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9. Summary Discussion and Recommendations

   • Frank S. Pezzella

   Pages 77-79

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10. Back Matter

    Pages 81-84

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​​​​​​This Brief provides a clearly outlined and accessible overview of the challenges in creating and enforcing hate crime legislation in the United States. As the author explains, while it is generally not controversial that hate crime behavior should be stopped, the question of how to do so effectively is complex.

This volume begins with an introduction about defining hate crimes, and the history of hate crimes and hate crime legislation in the United States. The author shows arguments in favor of hate crime statutes, for example: hate crimes reach beyond their victims to members of the victims’ protected group and cohesion of society at large, and should therefore carry higher penalties.The author also shows arguments against hate crime statutes, for example that they sometimes contain enhanced penalties for certain specially protected groups and not others, and have a high potential for ambiguity and uneven enforcement.  From a law enforcement perspective, the author explores the practical challenges in enforcing these statutes, and solutions to address them. Investigative techniques and resources vary significantly across police departments, as does training to identify and distinguish hate crimes from ordinary crimes. There is high potential for law enforcement and prosecutors’ personal biases to effect the classification of crimes as hate crimes. Law enforcement organizations are constantly faced with the dilemma of what and how to enforce legislation. 


This brief will be relevant for researchers in criminology and criminal justice, policy makers involved in hate crime legislation, social justice, and police-community relations, as well as related fields such as sociology, public policy and demography.​ 

• Bias and Law Enforcement
• Discrimination
• Hate Crimes
• Racial Bias
• Racism
• Sexism

• Department of Criminal Justice, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, USA

  Frank S. Pezzella

Frank S. Pezzella, PhD (Criminal Justice, SUNY Albany) is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. His research interests include Race and Crime, Hate Crimes and the influence of African American religiosity on the behavior of formerly incarcerated persons. This work was published in early 2014 in Springer’s Journal of Religion and Health under the title “Religion and the Behavioral Health of Formerly Incarcerated Men”. Prior to his current position he worked as an analyst and Deputy Chief Clerk for the NYS Unified Court System. He conducted research for legislative approval to implement community and problem solving courts. Such specialized courts such as substance abuse, domestic violence, reentry, and mental health courts are now present throughout all 62 counties in New York State. Dr. Pezzella has also worked on the expansion and institutionalization of the original Manhattan Bail Project for Vera Institute’s Pre-trial Services Agency (now the New York City Criminal Justice agency (CJA)) charged with assessing NYC defendants’ eligibility for release on recognizance under evidenced based criteria that defendants will likely to return to the jurisdiction of the court.

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