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Motivation is necessary in some criminal cases and especially those that are of a capitol offense. It can be a determining factor in the degree of sentencing such as in manslaughter or murder.
While motive alone is not enough to obtain a conviction for a crime it can certainly seal the deal. It can also mean the difference in levels of punishment. Keeping Gay Rights out of the circumstances and focusing solely on the importance of motive, here’s an example: A woman, shot point-blank in the head and killed by her husband because she was cheating on him. The man she was having an affair with happened to be an officer of the law. This same man denies the affair when questioned by police and the DA’s office (he has a family and career to protect). There are also no witnesses to this affair other than close family members the woman confided in before her death. These family members are not allowed to testify do to a conflict of interest (or whatever it’s called). Thus, motivation can’t be proved. The husband claims he and his wife were playing around and the gun went off accidentally. Because there was no proven motive, the man that pulled the trigger killing his wife received a probated manslaughter sentence of 10 years. Had there been a proven motive, along with the point-blank shot evidence he would have been convicted of murder and rightly so.
A crime of passion is very similar to one of hate. In that they both are usually motivated by anger. One of the biggest differences is that hate crimes not only affect the individual victim but also an entire group of people. While hate crime legislation can make it lawful to use hate against a group of people as a motive it also sends a strong message to the masses.
Likewise, a crime of hate itself also sends a strong message to the affected group—a message of hatred, prejudice and fear. Hate crimes divide and tear the fabric of our society and should be acknowledged for what they are. With the legislation enacted it will send a powerful message that crimes based on religion, race, disability or sexual orientation will not be tolerated.
Furthermore, hate crimes legislation already exists with the exclusion of sexual orientation. Why does anyone care that it’s added? It makes no sense to object to it unless there is a deep-rooted hatred against Gays. Either that or they don’t really realize the level of hatred some people carry against homosexuals.
Instead of all this talk about it’s not necessary to add a “group” of people or that motivation in a criminal case is not necessary; why not fight to remove the hate crimes legislation altogether? My guess is that if that were achieved it would send a message that it’s ok to have the motivation to cause harm or even worse kill someone based on their religion, etc….just as long as its not acted upon. As a result hate would only increase and ultimately resulting in even more crimes motivated by hatred. Talk about moving backwards. We’d be the We’d be the New Wild West.
It’s absolutely absurd that as a liberated nation we have minority groups of people in the first place. Sadly, it’s necessary since as a society we can’t get along with each other and it’s even sadder that for some it takes on a form of extreme hatred resulting in criminal activity. Hate crimes legislation is a necessity and so is the inclusion of sexual orientation in that legislation.
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