Hate, Crime, and the Law
theoretical issues that explore the social construction of hate crime from a socio-
psychological standpoint (Garland, 1990; Jenness and Grattet, 1996). This theoretical
discussion concludes with the documentation of the insertion of this social movement
into the legal fabric of the American Criminal Justice System (Jenness, 1999; Sutton,
2002) and into the fabric of political activism of numerous civil rights organizations.
In response to the second question noted above, this paper will offer a brief
overview of the available data describing hate crime reporting and hate crime
victimization. This “status report” on the occurrence of hate crime is crucial to any
effort to address the effectiveness of Hate Crime legislation, regardless of the
jurisdiction. Various reports based on “crimes known to police” (UCR Hate Crime
Statistics and NIBRS reports) and hate motivated victimization information from the
National Crime Victimization Survey.
Lastly, it is the aim of this paper to offer a discussion of the effectiveness of legal
and cultural responses to hate crime offenses. We will provide a review of the legal
response to hate crime by reviewing data on the effectiveness of hate crime reporting
legislation (Walker and Katz, 1995; Moore, 2003) and the impact of hate crime
legislation of prosecution and punishment (Ray and Smith, 2001). Additionally, we will
highlight a number of informal mechanisms for the social control of hate crime evident
in the actions of such groups as the ADL and the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The most unique aspect of this paper is that based on the limitations of research
noted in the previous sections, we offer a new perspective to guide future research
accordingly how anti-hate crime movements emerged and developed against bias-
motivated violence. This historical account will provide readers with basic knowledge
to evaluate the actual function of hate crime laws in American society.
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Convention