Opponents argued the law would create separate classes of people that would be treated differently, violating the constitutional guarantee of equal protection. But victims of certain bias-motivated crimes are not treated equally, Larson countered. For example, a person who throws a brick with a hateful message attached through a black person's window can be punished more harshly under current law than a person who does the same to a gay person's window, he said. Proponents said the bill properly focused on the motivation of the criminal, rather than characteristics of the victim. For example, said Deputy Denver District Attorney Everett Engstrom, a person who kills could be prosecuted for murder, for manslaughter or for criminally negligent homicide based on his or her state of mind.
Hate crimes are different from ordinary crimes.
The harm from a hate crime is larger than the harm to just an individual. Evan Zuckerman, assistant director of the Anti-Defamation League' s mountain states region, said the bill was necessary to protect groups of people who are being victimized based on certain characteristics. The Daily Camera. All rights reserved. Any copying, redistribution, or retransmission of any of the contents of this service without the express written consent of The Daily Camera is expressly prohibited.