Why is stabbing someone for being a lesbian worse than a regular stabbing?
Feb 12, 2015, 8:01 AM | Updated: 8:02 am
If someone commits a crime against someone based on their ethnicity or sexual orientation, should they face a stiffer penalty? (AP Photo/file)
(AP Photo/file)
Taken from Tuesday’s edition of The Jason Rantz Show.
A Tacoma woman was lucky to survive a very scary attack by a stranger when she was choked, stabbed, and tagged with homophobic slurs all over her body. The Tacoma Police Department are treating this as a possible hate crime.
Obviously, I hope they catch this guy. He is a complete monster. The suspect is described as being about 25 years old, having a Hispanic accent, being drunk and wearing a Seahawks baseball cap and Seahawks sweatshirt.
But I want to talk more about this guy getting hit with a potential hate crime case.
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I always wonder when I see stories like that, why exactly is that necessary? Why is it that you get a worse punishment because this guy perceived this woman to be a lesbian or a tomboy?
The victim told KIRO 7 the man shoved her, took her dog’s leash and put it around her neck, choking her so hard she got light headed. He then reportedly dragged her with the leash by the neck, stabbed her several times, and tagged her body with homophobic slurs.
But you’re telling me if he didn’t call her homophobic slurs and tag her body, he wouldn’t get as much punishment as he could get? With the hate crime statute, he may get more years added onto his sentence. I’m not sure of the exact numbers, but maybe 15 years instead of 10.
Why not just punish everyone up to 15 years for the crime? Why is a crime worse because it’s motivated by someone’s protected class? Why is a crime more severe because of the motivation? Isn’t it just as bad that they were stabbed?
We ought to just increase the punishment for the actual crime. A stabbing should get the absolute highest punishment available for a stabbing. I don’t care if he did it out of any specific type of hatred. I don’t care the reason he did it. Hatred enough for mankind that you will stab someone is bad enough for me.
Do you think we should have hate crime statutes? If you think they are worthwhile, what do you think they accomplish? Take our poll and respond in the comments.
Taken from Tuesday’s edition of The Jason Rantz Show.
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