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| NCJ Number:
|
NCJ 111917
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| Title:
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Bias Crime: A Special Target for Prosecutors
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| Journal:
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Prosecutor Volume:21 Issue:4 Dated:(Spring 1988) Pages:9-15
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| Author(s):
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P Finn
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| Publication Date:
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1988 |
| Pages:
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7 |
| Origin:
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United States |
| Language:
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English |
| Annotation:
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Bias crime -- often called hate violence -- can range from harassment and vandalism to murder motivated by the victim's race, religion, national origin, or sexual orientation. |
| Abstract:
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There are statutes in every State that permit prosecutors to single out bias crimes in terms of charging decisions and sentencing recommendations relative to comparable unprejudiced crime. Prosecutors often experience difficulty in these cases stemming from the need to prove bias as a motivation, uncoopertive witnesses, equivocal facts, and lenient judges. Nonetheless, the experience of district attorneys in New York and Massachusetts suggest that targeting these cases is both feasible and rewarding. Prosecutors are in a unique role for ensuring that hate violence is treated in a way that is commensurate with the individual and social harm it causes. Prosecutors can work actively with police to direct law enforcement attention toward this problem. They also are in a unique position to educate judges as to the nature, prevalence, and severity of hate violence and to encourage effective sentences. While ultimately all three components of the criminal justice system will have to work together to alter how bias crime offenders are handled, district attorney's can play a major role in initiating and promoting change. 11 footnotes. |
| Main Term(s):
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Violent crimes |
| Index Term(s):
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Discrimination ; Prosecuting attorneys ; Racially motivated violence ; Religiously motivated violence |
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To cite this abstract, use the following link:
http://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=111917
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not available online, a link to the publisher's web site is provided.
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