Hate crime charges appropriate

Christian Schneider’s contention that hate crime laws, including Wisconsin’s, “transform law enforcement officials into thought police” reflects a profound misunderstanding of these important laws (“Chicago torture wasn’t a ‘hate crime,’ ” Crossroads, Jan. 6).

Hate crime laws punish conduct, not thought. Indeed, the U.S. Supreme Court in 1993 unanimously upheld Wisconsin’s hate crime law against a First Amendment challenge. These laws only punish criminal acts such as murder, assault and vandalism. In issuing harsher criminal sentences, judges and juries often take motive into account, and hate crime laws work no differently. And just like any criminal case, hate crime laws require that bias motive be proven with evidence beyond a reasonable doubt.

Schneider also fails to understand that hate crime laws recognize the profound impact bias-motivated crimes have beyond the immediate victim. Because hate crime victims are often chosen at random, these crimes terrorize the victim’s community, often lead to retaliatory hate crimes that target members of the perpetrators’ community, and thereby tear at the very fabric of society.

The hate crime charges in the Facebook Live case were absolutely appropriate. The perpetrators targeted the victim for this heinous crime because of his disability, which undoubtedly struck fear and terror within Chicago’s special needs community and beyond. These charges send the resounding message that criminally targeting a person for his or her disability or other immutable characteristic is unacceptable and will be met with severe punishment.

Lonnie Nasatir Regional Director Anti-Defamation League Upper Midwest Region Chicago