[LERK]

Originally Posted by Tisha0616 ↗

Nick and his partner, who was my best friend in high school, lived with me for several months before moving back to Tyler. He was very flamboyant and the people who murdered him targeted him because he was gay. It is my understanding that they tortured him by severing his penis and raping him with a stick before finally killing him. He was on his hands and knees sobbing and begging for his life. Even after so many years I remember him as a gentle soul. RIP

That's rough.

[Chinchillazilla]

Originally Posted by philovan ↗

Indeed. And you are just as dead whether they call it a "hate crime" or not. I don't know what good it does to invent labels like that - murder is murder.

If "murder is murder" then we shouldn't call terrorism "terrorism" either. Just murder.

The fact is that categorizing different murders differently is important from a criminology perspective.

[giovanni0359]

Originally Posted by Rs103 ↗

A "crime of passion" (in my interpretation at least) is if/when the perp allowed their "passion" to take control of their mind/body. The most common example that comes to mind would be catching your significant other in the act. They didn't think about, or intend to kill the guy banging their wife ahead of time, prior to witnessing it.

To murder someone, I would think you'd really have to hate the person, think of how, where, etc. and/or be a sicko yourself. Which is why I don't subscribe to the "hate crime" thing.

Murder is motivated by a number of things. Take the example of white supremacist James alex Fields who drove his car into the crowd. It was a hate crime and he paying for it. So many of you hate crime bashers cannot answer me why we have 1st degree murder, 2nd degree murder, capital murder and manslaughter. Murder isn`t just murder, it also the motivication of what drove the person to do it. Gays get killed for their sexual orientation. DEAL WITH IT !!!

[giovanni0359]

Originally Posted by junkie_ ↗

"Crime of passion" ..

Another moron speaks. Congrats !!

[Moloko]

Originally Posted by SusanMarie ↗

Hate crime, in my understanding, is when you commit a crime against somebody because of their lifestyle or skin colour, or beliefs.

Unless they're White, or conservative, or heterosexual and not transgendered..

[klklamkin1]

I agree that lifestyle has nothing to do with murder, except that it may have caused the murder. People need to focus on the act & leave the motivation to police unless a voice needs to be heard.

[Omegas3]

There are reasons why crimes are labeled as they are. Yes murder is murder but the intent is normally the deciding factor, not the murder itself.

[icehole]

it's a hate crime if it's proven that hate was the motive