Close Topic Options

Teens Charged With Hate Crime

ref: https://www.cnn.com/2004/US/South/07/08/hat...e.ap/index.html

Three teenage boys were charged with spray painting swastika, profanities and KKK references on a neighbors garage door and driveway. The three teenagers, aged 14, 15 and 16 were of Caucasian descent. The neighbor was African American.
It makes you wonder why young people like this would have such hatred in them to carry out such an act. The parents I would think have probably nurtured these types of feelings, or at the very least known about it and done nothing to curb it.

Crime Hate Charged Teens

It's not always hatred. Sometimes it is just youthful foolishness, that others are able to then turn into hatred.

An example. When I was growing up, in the late 1960s, several of us would draw swastikas on our notebooks. It was just an interesting design. None of us (as far as I know) held any hatred for blacks, jews, or asians. (Although since it was farm country, there may have been some rascism towards hispanics, among some). No, it was just foolishness.

These boys may have just thought it would be funny to try to scare the people in the house. Not saying that this is what it was, but just a possibility.

Now I need to make a couple of things clear. I don't condone, in the slightest, any behaviour such as this. My children would be severely punished if they participated in anything like this.

At the same time, I really disapprove of the very concept of "hate crime". Just because someone hates someone else, or is a racist or bigot, does not justify making their actions into any different crime than if they didn't harbor those thoughts. One of the foundational principles of liberty is the right to think whatever you want. They should be punished for the vandalism, but there should be nothing about WHY they did it.

Teens Charged With Hate Crime History & Civil Business Politics

I can see your point Nighthawk about youthful pranks, but shouldn't they be throwing toilet paper on trees, or putting bird seed on someone's car so all the birds feed there and subsequently mess up the car as well? Spray painting profanities and KKK references on someones driveway, when that someone is of a minority race, shows that there was some hate motive involved here. I have no doubt that idle minds led to this, but once the act was started, the inner feelings that have been instilled in these young minds got the better of them and led to the 'hate' part of the crime.
For prosecution purposes, I can also see your point about discriminating a crime as a hate crime. I believe this is more for the media hype and for the shock and awe effect it has when such a story is published. It sure got my attention!

Edited: malexander on 9th Jul, 2004 - 4:01pm

Crime Hate Charged Teens

I agree with Nighthawk here, sometimes it is just foolishness and idleness that causes this, not really hate, specially in young American teenagers who seem, from what I have seen, more immature than children of other countries I have met. I'm not saying this is the case, I'm just saying that this could be a possibility. Anyhow, if I was the neighboor I would definetly sue the parents of those children.