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In a time of broken bones: A call to dialogue on hate violence and the limitations of hate crimes legislation

Whitlock, Katherine
June 4, 2015

Source: (2001) A Justice Visions working paper. Edited by Rachael Kamel. Philadelphia, PA: American Friends Service Committee, Community Relations Unit. Downloaded 9 June 2004.

As defined by the first hate crimes laws, such crimes consist of harmful actions (e.g., harassment, intimidation, violence, and murder) perpetrated against another person because of that person’s race, national origin, or religion. Currently, many advocate the extension of hate crime legislation to include harmful acts against people identified in terms of categories such as gender, sexual preference, and disabilities. Would the extension of hate crime legislation be a good thing? As stated in this paper, when harm is done to another on the basis of hatred for some distinguishing characteristic, it is right to seek justice in response. Yet, Katherine Whitlock asks, what is justice in this context? Whitlock casts a vision of ‘healing justice’ rooted in resistance to wrongdoing but oriented toward transformation and restoration rather than more extensive and severe punishment. In this paper she presents a careful challenge to consider the limitations and unintended harmful consequences of many hate laws as currently formulated.

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