Classification of a Hate Crime

• According to the FBI, a "hate crime" is "a criminal offense committed against a person, property or society which is motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender's bias against race, religion, disability, sexual orientation or ethnicity/national origin." Gender and gender identity are possible reasons for hate crimes as well. When such a crime takes place, it is motivated by the attackers' hatred toward differences in their victims, such as how they look, to whom they pray, how they behave and so on. These crimes are not random; they are premeditated through personal bias.
  
  

Types of Hate Crimes

• There are essentially three varieties of hate crime: the destruction of property based on prejudice; the assault/murder of an individual based on prejudice; and threats expressed based on prejudice. More often than not, crimes that are classified as hate crimes tend to fall under the felony category of crime.
  
  

State-Based Hate Crime Protections

• Hate crime statutes are on the books nationwide, though not every state has them. Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina and Wyoming are without any criminal provisions related to bias-motivated violence and intimidation. Sexual orientation is protected from hate crimes by statutes in all states except Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming. Slowly, even gender and gender identity is being protected, thus far in Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Washington and West Virginia.
  
  

Hate Crime Penalties

• Fines, probationary sentences, incarceration and even the death penalty can be handed to perpetrators of hate crimes. The type of punishment and duration vary depending on the details of the crime, including individual intent, criminal record and history of the perpetrator, as well as the victim or victims involved. The penalty for hate crimes in the state of Washington, for example, stipulates "the court shall impose a minimum fine of not less than five hundred dollars and a minimum jail sentence of not less than five days for each such offense. Neither the mandatory minimum jail sentence nor the mandatory minimum fine shall be suspended or deferred, nor shall the jail sentence be served by alternative means." There are similar provisions in the states where hate crimes are punished.