Blog 3: Hate Crimes Laws

Liberty Institute made a statement saying that an attack on a 22-year-old man who happened to be homosexual is more protected than an attack on an 8-year-old child. The reliance on this statement is only half-true. In today's statesman Politifact protested saying that under Texas law an attack on a 22-year-old homosexual man can, not is, more protected under the law than an attack on an 8-year-old child. The only way for it to be more protected under the law is if there was certain proof showcasing the fact that he was attacked primarily because of his sexual orientation. Under the law it states that an attack on a child is punishable by 10 years in prison no less than 2 years whereas an attack on a gay male is only punishable by up to a year in prison under a Class A misdemeanor. Another way the homosexual male can be protected, if proof be given to his attack, is under the Shephard Act which came into effect after the brutal attack and murder of Matthew Shepard in the early 1990's. There are only five states in the United States that do not have a law prohibiting hate crimes. Texas is one state that takes hate crimes more seriously. Texas cracks down on all stereotypes that could be attacked physically for who they are and protects them whether you are a child, an elder person over the age of 65 or even someone who happens to have a different skin tone than someone else. The bottom line for the Liberty Institute is that if you are to make a statement stating it as a fact than you should do the research to make sure it is true. The hate crimes laws are not just the big print in the book and the most foreseen but also ignites through the protection of those you may not know.