Hate Crimes Between Matthew Shepard And James Byrd Jr.

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a hate crime is a crime motivated by hostility towards a group of people. This is the kind of crime involved in the situation of Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Before we look into what the crime was and how crimes like it are prevented, let’s look at who these two men were. Matthew Shepard was born December 1, 1976 in Casper Wyoming. He lived in Casper until 11th grade, when he moved to Saudi Arabia. In his Senior year, he decided to take a trip with some of his classmates to morroco. During that trip he was caught by some local people there and he was raped and beat by them. He sought treatment for depression and anxiety after this attack. After this, he moved to North Carolina. Knowing he way

led Congress to expand on this law. In 2009 the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act was signed into law. This act made it much easier to prosecute suspects of hate crimes. For someone to be accused of a hate crime before this act, the victim had to be involved in a federal protected activity like serving in court. Now, someone can be accused of a hate crime in most situations. Some states include more groups to be qualified (gender, disability, gender identity, and sexual orientation) to be victims of hate crimes. The violent acts of hate done against these two men opened the eyes of federal officials to the horrible things people do to other people just because of who they are. Violent acts should not be done to another human being especially because they are a certain race, gender, etc. Advancements done in law in these areas are truly an improvement to society. Since the signing of the act, the FBI reports that hate crimes have indeed gone down. Just the difference between 2008 and 2009 is

This is because an important part of America is the first amendment. In America, people are allowed to present their opinions. It is not legally considered hate for someone to give a speech against a group of people. Religions are mostly associated with doing this. The Bible teaches Christians not to be homosexual so naturally pastors preach to them that it is not okay. The Quran also says it is not okay. If they were to act violently against them, that would be considered a hate crime, but since the first amendment protects against freedom of religion and speech, as long as religions keep their morals oral it is acceptable. Threats are also not technically considered hate crimes but they can be prosecuted differently under other