What is a hate crime?

Hate crimes can be defined with a General Definition or with Legal Definitions which vary depending on specific laws that are enacted at Federal, State and Local levels of government.

In Pennsylvania, the legal definition of a hate crime is determined by Pennsylvania's "Hate Crime" Law, the Ethnic Intimidation and Institutional Vandalism Act.

General Definition

A hate crime is a criminal offense committed against persons, property or society that is motivated, in whole or in part, by an offender's bias against a specific characteristic of an individual or a group such as race, religion, ethnicity, national origin, gender, age, disability or sexual orientation.

Legal Definitions

Because hate crimes are criminal offenses, legal definitions vary according to the specific criminal law that is violated or applied.

Hate crimes can, in some instances, be prosecuted under certain Federal laws. Some local municipalities have enacted local hate crime laws or ordinances.

Most prosecution of hate crimes, however, is done using State hate crimes laws. These laws are referred to with names such as "hate crimes statutes," "ethnic intimidation laws," or "bias crimes statutes."

Not every state has a hate crime law.

State hate crime laws vary from State to State. For example, almost every State hate crime law addresses crimes motivated by bias toward a victim's race, religion or ethnicity. Bias toward a victim's gender, disability or sexual orientation, on the other hand, is addressed by some State statues but not others.

State hate crime laws usually work this way:

1. The law lists certain crimes that are already a part of that State's criminal laws. Usually these crimes include both violent crimes against people (like murder, assault, sexual offenses, and kidnapping) and also certain crimes against property (like arson or vandalism). These crimes are usually referred to as "underlying offenses."
2. The hate crime law identifies certain characteristics of people such as race, religion or national origin.
3. The hate crime law creates a new and separate criminal offense that can be charged when two things happen:
   1. One of the "underlying offense" crimes listed in the law occurs, AND
   2. The motivation for that crime was a bias (or hatred) on the part of the offender toward the victim because the victim had one of the characteristics listed in the law.

For example, if someone criminally assaults (beats up) a Jewish person because of a hatred or bias against the Jewish religion of the victim, the offender may face two separate charges - one for criminal assault, and one for the hate crime offense.

What is the penalty faced by someone charged with a hate crime?

In most cases, the penalty depends on the nature of the "underlying offense" crime that was committed. Crimes are "graded," based on their severity. For example, a "First Degree Misdemeanor" is one grade higher than a "Second Degree Misdemeanor" and so it carries a penalty that can be twice as severe. The penalty for a hate crime in many State hate crimes laws is one grade higher than the penalty for the "underlying offense." For this reason, these kinds of hate crime laws are sometimes referred to as "penalty enhancement statutes."

Some State hate crime laws also allow victims to pursue "civil remedies" from the offender such as monetary damages for emotional distress; punitive monetary damages; and attorney fees and costs. When these civil remedies are sought, the standard for convicting the offender is "preponderance of the evidence." Criminal penalties, like fines and jail time, require conviction in a criminal court where "beyond a reasonable doubt" is a much more difficult standard to prove in order to convict an offender.

Pennsylvania's "Hate Crime" Law, the "Ethnic Intimidation and Institutional Vandalism Act"

Pennsylvania's "hate crime" law is called the "Ethnic Intimidation and Institutional Vandalism Act," and it was enacted in 1982.

Pennsylvania considers certain crimes to be more serious when motivated by hatred toward the victims' actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation, gender or gender identity.

When certain crimes are committed (often these are called "underlying offenses") AND it can be shown that a motive for the crime was hatred of the victims' actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation, gender or gender identity, the additional offense of ethnic intimidation can be charged, subjecting the perpetrator to more severe penalties.

The only four victim characteristics currently named in Pennsylvania's hate crime law are race, color, religion and national origin.

The underlying criminal offenses that are designated in Pennsylvania's law include, but are not limited to, crimes against persons like harassment, terroristic threats, assault and crimes against property like criminal trespass, criminal mischief and arson.

You can find a complete listing of the underlying offenses designated in Pennsylvania's hate crime law and definitions for some of these offenses.

Civil remedies are also available to victims of hate crimes in Pennsylvania. Any person who is injured or whose property is damaged by such actions can sue for damages, including damages for emotional distress, punitive damages and reasonable attorney fees and costs. This section of Pennsylvania's "Hate Crime" law is called the Civil Right of Action.

Under Pennsylvania law, vandalism causing damage to a church, synagogue, cemetery, mortuary, memorial to the dead, school, educational facility, community center, municipal building, courthouse, juvenile detention center, grounds surrounding such places or personal property located within such places, is an offense now punishable as a felony of the third degree if the offender knows that the damage will outrage persons who observe it or if the repair, replacement or other costs exceed $5,000. Otherwise, the offense is a second-degree misdemeanor.

For more details on Pennsylvania's Hate Crime law, the Ethnic Intimidation and Institutional Vandalism Act, you can view and/or print the document Legal Extracts.