(Assaults based on sexual orientation age disability or gender should be considered hate crimes)
North Carolina hate crime laws are outdated and should be amended by the General Assembly.
Current N.C. law only defines a hate crime as an assault against someone simply based on their race color religion nationality or country of origin.
But N.C. law does not classify crimes committed against people because of age sexual orientation disability or gender as hate crimes.
It should.
Fortunately Rep. Pricey Harrison D-Guilford has filed the Safer Communities Act in the N.C. House.
This bill would expand the definition of hate crime in the state.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice an ordinary crime becomes a hate crime when an offender chooses a victim simply because of an inherent identity.
Few other crimes are rooted in such ignorance and evil.
In 2007 75 hate crimes were reported in North Carolina according to FBI records.
But this statistic only includes reported crimes from agencies in North Carolina that contribute data to the FBI.
And the Department of Justice estimates that about 50 percent of hate crimes go unreported.
For each of these reported hate crimes an entire community of people is intimidated. These crimes create a climate of fear.
An entire population can feel threatened by a single act of hate.
The General Assembly has an obligation to North Carolina to ensure that justice is administered to the victims of hate crimes and their offenders.
To do so North Carolina's laws need to be amended to define crimes against sexual orientation age gender or disability as hate crimes.
The Safer Communities Act should be passed by the General Assembly.
