Examining the Boundaries of Hate Crime Law: Disabilities and the "Dilemma of Difference"

• NCJ Number: 195230
• Journal: Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Volume: 91 Issue: 3 Dated: Spring 2001 Pages: 653-697
• Author(s): Ryken Grattet; Valerie Jenness
• Date Published: 2001
• Length: 45 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article discusses how law can best respond to the criminal victimization of minorities and people with disabilities.

Abstract

Policies that emphasize the special needs of minorities can reinforce cultural distinctions between minorities and others. Policies that ignore differences between types of victims risk being insensitive to the increasingly well-documented institutional, organizational, and interactional disadvantages faced by minorities. Often summarized as a tension between “same” versus “different” treatment policies, the dilemma of difference is routinely confronted by advocates for minority constituencies. With hate crime legislation, criminal conduct that was once undistinguished from ordinary crime has been redefined and condemned more harshly than before. This attests to the growing concern with public resources directed at violence motivated by bigotry, hatred, or bias. In the last two decades almost every State in the United States has adopted at least one hate crime statute that simultaneously recognizes, defines, and responds to discriminatory violence. The United States Congress has passed three laws specifically designed to address bias-motivated violence. Persons with disabilities represent one of the largest minority groups in the United States. Recent research suggests that the multitude of ways that persons with disabilities are victimized is pronounced and increasing. However, social scientists and policymakers have largely overlooked persons with disabilities. The status provisions included in hate crime laws are for race, religion, color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, and disabilities. Currently, 21 States have laws covering disability and this number is growing. But as both a legislative provision and practical issue, the connection between the legal and conceptual definition of “hate crime” and “disabilities” is tenuous. Hate crime laws treat persons with disabilities as both “different from” and “the same as” other persons. It is possible that hate crime law manages to increase public awareness of criminal victimization of persons with disabilities without defining them as “special.” 2 figures, 2 tables, 147 footnotes