The Hate Crime Law In The U.S.A.

     

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For The Record:

I do not agree with the concept of a hate crime law. In my mind, the damned murderer who kills one of my children, for any reason, should be subject to the same penalty as would be handed down to the killer of a member of a minority group.

That's just the way I feel.

And I'm right.

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Did You Know . . .?

In the 17th century, the Puritans declared the celebration of Christmas illegal.

The pilgrims, English separatists that came to America in 1620, were extremely orthodox in their Puritan beliefs. As a result, Christmas was not a holiday in early America. From 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was actually outlawed in Boston. Anyone exhibiting the Christmas spirit was fined five shillings.

More . . .

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day in 1986, three black men are attacked by a group of white teenagers yelling racial slurs in Howard Beach, a predominately white, middle-class, Italian-American neighborhood in Queens, New York. Earlier that night, the men were driving from Brooklyn to Queens, when their car broke down near Howard Beach. They walked several miles to a pizza parlor in Howard Beach, where they asked to use a phone to call for assistance. They were told that no phone was available. When the men left the pizzeria, they were confronted by the gang of teens. One of the men, Michael Griffith, 23, was chased into traffic on the Belt Parkway and died after being hit by a car. A second man, Cedric Sandiford, was severely beaten, while the third man, Timothy Grimes, outran the assailants and escaped without serious injury.

In December 1987, after 12 days of jury deliberations, three teens were convicted of manslaughter in the death of Griffith.

In the years since the 1986 incident, New York enacted stronger hate-crime laws and in June 2006, Nicholas Minucci, 20, was found guilty of racially motivated assault and robbery. The following month, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

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WORD FOR TODAY

hate crime
noun
Any of various crimes (as assault or defacement of property) when motivated by hostility to the victim as a member of a group (as one based on color, creed, gender, or sexual orientation)

In both crime and law, hate crimes (also known as bias-motivated crimes, or race hate) occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her perceived membership in a certain social group. Examples of such groups include but are not limited to: racial group, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity or gender identity.
--Wikipadia

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Michael Badalucco

(born December 20, 1954)

Michael Badalucco is an American actor known for his role as lawyer Jimmy Berluti on the ABC legal drama The Practice. He won the 1999 Emmy for Best Supporting Actor for his role on the show.

Jillian Grace

(born December 20, 1985)

Jillian Grace is an American model and Playboy centerfold who was named Playmate of the Month in March 2005. She also had a short lived film career, appearing in films like The House Bunny and Epic Movie.

On August 26, 2008, Grace gave birth to a daughter named Harper; the father is actor David Spade.

John Benedict Hillerman

(born December 20, 1932)

John Hillerman is an American actor, known for his starring role on the television show Magnum, P.I.

Jennifer Ann "Jenny" Agutter

(born 20 December 1952)

Jenny Agutter is an English film and television actress. She began her career as a child actress in the mid-1960s, starring in the BBC television series The Railway Children and the film adaptation of the same book, before taking adult roles and moving to Hollywood. She played Jessica 6 in Logan's Run, Jill Mason in Equus, Alex Price in An American Werewolf in London and Joanne Simpson in Child's Play 2.

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Any crime that results from prejudice based on race, religion, sexual orientation or ethnicity is a hate crime.
--Federal Bureau of Investigation

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