Hate crimes
Continued from Page 1A
portant in combating bias-moti
vated violence. That’s why he or
ganized a panel discussion on
campus several weeks ago to help
people understand what hate
crimes are and what the law can
do about them.
Hate crimes, or bias crimes,
which range from vandalism to
murder, are committed against in
dividuals based on their in a par
ticular societal group. They are of
ten intended to convey a message
or a warning to other members of
the group as well as to the indi
vidual, Corcoran said.
Although nationally hate
crimes seem to be on the rise, in
Oregon the number has actually
dropped since the state began col
lecting statistics on them in 1991.
That year, 488 hate crimes were
reported in Oregon, compared to
108 in 1997, according to the Ore
gon Department of State Police.
Jeff Bock, manager of the State
Uniform Crime Reporting Pro
gram, said he believes fewer peo
ple are committing hate crimes
because they have a harder time
getting away with them.
“People who commit them are
learning that victims are no longer
staying silent,” he said. “Society
doesn’t accept bias crimes as
much as before.”
In the past, as well as in some
places today, victims of hate
crimes have been reluctant to re
port them, some out of humilia
tion and others out of a lack of a
“safe” place to go, University law
professor Dominick Vetri said.
“Historically, police have been
part of the problem,” he said.
"They’ve sometimes treated hate
crimes as less important than oth
ers. "But as prominent bias-moti
vated murders such as Shepard's
have brought the issue to the fore
front of public discussion, both
legislators and law enforcement
agencies have mobilized to crack
down on hate crimes.
Many agencies have estab
lished hate crime units to combat
the problem, which not only in
crease investigations into such
crimes but also encourage victims
to feel safer about reporting them,
Bock explained.
In Eugene, police are making an
effort to curb hate crimes, said
Sgt. Ron Roberts, supervisor of
the Eugene Police Department’s
violent crimes unit. “We respond
to every call and investigate when
it’s a call about a bias crime,” he
said.
Roberts admits that many vic
tims of hate crimes still don't feel
comfortable going to the police.
“A majority of cases are certain
ly not going reported,” he said.
But he added that he believes
these cases are becoming fewer.
At the same time, the number
of hate crimes in Eugene has actu
ally increased in the past year.
Last year, 24 cases were reported,
while 40 have been reported as of
October in 1998. Part of this in
crease may be due to a larger
number of cases being reported,
but Roberts believes the number
of actual crimes committed has
also risen.
"We know the incidence of
hate crimes in society is at an un
acceptably high level,” Vetri said.
“Hate crime is a serious problem
in America.”
In spite of this, however, mea
sures such as increased police at
tention and hate crime legislation
have made a difference, Bock
said. Oregon law provides an ex
tra deterrent to perpetrators.
Currently, the law recognizes
two hate crimes: intimidation in
the first and second degrees.
If a crime is shown to spring
from a bias against the victim
based on membership in a defin
able societal group and is commit
ted by an individual, the perpetra
tor can be charged with
Intimidation in the second degree
as well as with the original crime.
Because intimidation in the sec
ond degree is a Class A misde
meanor, the perpetrator may face
stiffer penalties, Bock said.
If more than one person takes
part in the crime, all may be
charged with intimidation in the
first degree, which is a Class C
Hate crimes in Eugene
The number of reported bias
crimes in Eugene has risen
since last year
Race
Color
Religion
National
origin
Sexual
orientation
Political [0
orientation 11
H Total incidents in 1997:24
■Total incidents in 1998:40
(as ot OctoDar)
SOURCE: Eugene PoSce Department
Cara Strazza/EmeraU
felony and punishable by up to
five years in prison.
Even if the crime in question is
a less serious crime, such as van
dalism, a bias-related motive real
ly ups the ante, Bock explained.
"With bias crimes, you’re not
actually looking at a particular
crime, but at a motivation for sev
eral different crimes,” he said.
Because of this, critics of hate
crime laws question whether per
petrators of hate crimes shoidd
face additional charges. They ar
gue that a crime is a crime, regard
less of the motive, and that hate
crime laws give too much discre
tion to judges.
Bock disagrees.
“If anybody out there believes
that, they’re wrong. You would be
far more forgiving if someone bur
glarized your house to feed their
starving kids than if they did it be
cause of a bias against you. To say
hate crimes should be ignored —
that’s terribly wrong.”
Corcoran and other proponents
of bias crime legislation empha
size that hate crimes do need to be
differentiated from other crimes.
“Yes, all crimes are terrible and
people get hurt,” said Jean Harris,
executive director of Basic Rights
Oregon. “But that question is a de
flection of the issues. It’s impor
tant to talk about the difference
between them.”
A hate crime, specifically one
involving death, differs from oth
er murders in two ways, Corcoran
explained.
“First, there’s an excessive
amount of brutality involved. It’s
not one person shooting another.
It’s not two people involved in a
bar fight where one pulls a knife
and stabs the other,” he said.
“Matthew Shepard was pistol
whipped, tied to a fence and left
to die.
"Second, a hate crime is meant
to terrorize a defined or definable
group of people. It is committed
because the victim is a member of
a certain race, gender, religion or
sexual orientation. It’s the idea
that because of that attribute, that
person deserves to die, and every
one else who belongs to that
group should be warned," Corco
ran explained.
As a result, hate crimes are
more humiliating, traumatic and
psychologically damaging than
other crimes — not just to the in
dividual victim, but to the com
munity the crime was directed to
ward, Vetri said.
“The real difference is that
there is an impact on a particular
community that makes it different
from a regular kind of crime. We
need to distinguish between
them. With hate crimes, there’s a
particular message someone’s try
ing to get across,” said Gil Carras
co, a visiting law professor from
Villanova University.
While Shepard's death has re
cently brought attention to hate
crimes as a gay and lesbian issue,
sexual orientation is one of many
motives for these crimes. In
Jasper, Texas, last June, a disabled
African American man was beat
en and then dragged to death by
white men behind a truck in an
other instance of bias-motivated
murder.
And, Corcoran added, “it’s not
just people of a minority race, but
people who are Caucasian are
sometimes killed because they’re
white.”
In Eugene this year, although
hate crimes based on sexual ori
entation have risen, 28 of the 40
cases reported were based on oth
er factors. Race, religion, age, so
cioeconomic status, political affil
iation and disability are all among
the numerous hate crime motives
recognized under Oregon's Intim
idation statutes.
Passing these statutes against
bias-motivated crimes has been
an important step in demonstrat
ing that society won’t tolerate
such behavior, Vetri, Carrasco
and Corcoran agree. However,
they add, these laws are just that:
first steps.
“They are a tiny step toward be
coming more civilized,” Vetri
said. “But we need to find out,
how does this bias get implanted
in the minds of our children?”
Children need to be educated
early about embracing diversity
and overcoming prejudice, he
said.
“I’m out in the trenches dealing
with these issues of hate crimes
every day,” said Henry Luvert,
president of the Eugene-area
chapter of the National Associa
tion for the Advancement of Col
ored People. “We allow kids to
have these little bitty behaviors,
and then they grow into broader
behaviors. We allow kids to do
these little acts, and then these
laws come up because we’re em
barrassed at the consequences.”
In order to attack the problem,
people need to open dialogue
about their biases, said Lisa Klop
penberg, a University law profes
sor.
“Talk about it in your classes,
your churches, in your family and
your neighborhood. This issue
has to be addressed one-on-one,”
she said.
Nicole Garton covers general as
sign men I antifeature stories for the
Emerald. She can he reached vial e
mail at nicolekr@gkulstone.uore
gon.edu
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