Are Hate-Crime Laws Necessary?
The attack on Matthew Shepard, a gay student, was senseless and appalling, but the usefulness of more hate-crime legislation is questionable (editorial, April 6). Had the victim been an elderly heterosexual man, the crime would have been equally appalling but would not have qualified as a hate crime because the victim was not a member of one of the arbitrarily designated protected minority groups. Hate-crime laws are problematic because they imply that the same attack on two different people can warrant different criteria for punishment. Hence, a value judgment is automatically rendered on the worth of the victim’s life. Mr. Shepard’s killer has been sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, a punishment commensurate with the heinousness of the crime. This sentence came without the aid of hate-crime legislation, thus proving that such legislation, in addition to being discriminatory, is also unnecessary.
