LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL

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HATE CRIMINALS HAVE CREATED A SPECIAL KIND OF CRIME

YOUTUBE: US CITIZENSHIP CEREMONY
"Pledge of Allegiance"
Some people get it. But they're not Republicans.


A SPECIAL LAW WAS REQUIRED IN ORDER TO DEAL WITH THESE SPECIAL CRIMES

Conservatards Quake With Fear That They Might Be Caught Thinking Criminally.
We'd Like To See Them Thinking At All.

Ironically, it is the law & order types who dream of technology that can read people's minds and discover criminal intent. They love good old torture for the same reason: They think it exposes the inner thoughts and intent of criminals and terrorists. But the idea that the same logic might be applied to them has them pissing in their Depends, the old fools.

In America, we insist on the absolute freedom to think anything you want. We defend the right of free expression to the death, from avant garde art to rebellious polemics, from nude dancing to Ku Klux Klan rallies. There is no such thing as "hate speech" in the law here. Hate all you want in the good old USA. As long as you don't act or incite others to act criminally, it's all good. But once you do commit a criminal act, your intent becomes a matter of interest under the law. Under the new hate crimes legislation passed by the US House of Representatives, those who commit crimes motivated by hatred and prejudice against real or perceived groups will find judges and juries most attentive to the messages they were trying to send by committing their crimes. As well they should.

"Intent" is always considered in criminal cases. That's the difference between First and Second Degree Murder, and between Murder and Manslaughter, or Manslaughter and Accidental Death: Did the accused mean to kill? What was his or her state of mind? Was he or she drunk, high, crazy, terrified? Did they act "with malice aforethought"? Did they show any remorse, or did they try to cover up their crime? Do they show remorse now? Is it genuine?

These are the kinds of questions we ask judges and juries to decide. That's why they're there: To exercise their judgment, and try to understand the motivations of an accused person. Maybe they killed in self-defense, or by accident. Maybe they killed for money, or to cover up a crime. Motive matters.

The fact is, it's the perpetrators themselves who have created this special class of crime. The new law simply recognizes an old fact. In many cases, the perpetrators have no connection to their victims, don't even know them, had no reason to do anything to them, not even robbery. They chose to make a statement of their ideas, attitudes or feelings about another "kind" of person or perceived group of persons by committing what is, in any circumstances, a crime against them. They committed a crime against another person BECAUSE of that persons' actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.

Who and what the victim was provided the motivation for a criminal act. The perpetrator chose to break the law for the purpose of striking out against a whole group of people, an act of extraordinary anti-socialism. They chose to use crime to make a statement to all of society, to hurt and terrorize an entire class of human beings. They chose to move from thought to action, from thinking to doing, from abstract to concrete, from ideal to real. They forced this issue by moving beyond symbolism to actual crime. The new law does not criminalize thought, nor does it criminalize behavior that was not already criminal under the law: Assault, battery, rape, murder, arson, and other crimes of violence with intent to cause bodily injury: Crimes without a doubt, since time immemorial.

Under all of our laws, once a crime is proved, the punishment must always hinge on intent. We've already singled out for special punishment our convicted cop-killers, kiddie-porn producers, schoolyard drug-dealers, thieving traitors-for-money, etc. They are punished more severely because of the intent and the special circumstances behind the crime. Hate-criminals have chosen to commit crimes solely, initially or primarily out of hate. If this motivation is not recognized by the law, then how are police and prosecutors to collect evidence and prepare cases? How are judges and juries to proceed? What criteria are they supposed to use to determine the type and severity of the crime, and of the punishment? The logic of the law and the imperatives of justice cannot allow for ambiguity. Without a law like this, justice cannot be done in cases like these, either from a legal, philosophical, moral or emotional point of view. You would be leaving the police and prosecutors without legal guidelines, and judges and juries without a lawful standard by which to judge. In order for our system of justice to work, tools like this new law are required.

Determining intent is a vital part of what the law is all about, and it's why we have a criminal justice system, and trial by juries. We trust juries to make these determinations as they make every other determination in the thousands of criminal cases across the country every day. The system is not perfect, but it is the best we have. If the right-tards don't get that, they don't get America. "With Liberty and Justice for ALL," it says in the Pledge of Allegiance that they themselves insist schoolchildren recite every day. Don't they mean it?

The victims and the perpetrators of crimes motivated by hatred and prejudice deserve justice. Now they will get it. This new law is long overdue, and it reaffirms a simple fact: We are one nation indivisible, where all men and women are created equal, and we demand that people be treated as such. This not Serbia or Rwanda, Nazi Germany or Stalinist Russia. The days of the Bund and the Klan are over. We are a great melting pot, and our diversity is our strength, always has been. Now we have a law to preserve, protect, ensure and defend that diversity. Let those who cannot abide it go somewhere else. Their hateful acts will no longer be tolerated, even though their hateful speech continues to be protected.

Rest easy, Republicans. We real Americans are not like you: We value, honor and uphold freedom & justice, in our deeds and not just in our words. Hate all you want, you sick bastards. But act on that hate, and we will bust you.


Thanks to Pam's House Blend for bringing this up.

OPEN CONGRESS
"HR 1913 Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009"
The Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act

' Sec. 249. Hate crime acts

`(a) In General-

`(1) OFFENSES INVOLVING ACTUAL OR PERCEIVED RACE, COLOR, RELIGION, OR NATIONAL ORIGIN- Whoever, whether or not acting under color of law, willfully causes bodily injury to any person or, through the use of fire, a firearm, a dangerous weapon, or an explosive or incendiary device, attempts to cause bodily injury to any person, because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, or national origin of any person--

`(A) shall be imprisoned not more than 10 years, fined in accordance with this title, or both; and

`(B) shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life, fined in accordance with this title, or both, if--

`(i) death results from the offense; or

`(ii) the offense includes kidnaping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill.

`(2) OFFENSES INVOLVING ACTUAL OR PERCEIVED RELIGION, NATIONAL ORIGIN, GENDER, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, GENDER IDENTITY, OR DISABILITY-

`(A) IN GENERAL- Whoever, whether or not acting under color of law, in any circumstance described in subparagraph (B), willfully causes bodily injury to any person or, through the use of fire, a firearm, a dangerouse weapon, or an explosive or incendiary device, attempts to cause bodily injury to any person, because of the actual or perceived religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability of any person--

`(i) shall be imprisoned not more than 10 years, fined in accordance with this title, or both; and

`(ii) shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life, fined in accordance with this title, or both, if--

`(I) death results from the offense; or

`(II) the offense includes kidnaping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill. '

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DOUBLE-BIAS ATTACK IN THE BOROUGH OF CHURCHES

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"GAY" ECUADORANS BRUTALLY BEATEN IN BROOKLYN BY ANTI-LATINO ANTI-GAY THUGS

BUSHWICK FAMILY STRICKEN AS THEY WITNESS UNPROVOKED ATTACK BY STRANGERS IN THEIR OWN NEIGHBORHOOD



Now, What Will Those Famous Churches Do About This?

Given the role of so many religious institutions in fear-mongering, scapegoating and focusing hatred on gays, one wonders what their reaction will be to the product of their labors. What, for God's sake, would Jesus do?

I'm no Biblical scholar, but I can't honestly recall any parables, epistles, sermons or psalms about gays, positive or negative. Maybe they were among the Apocrypha stricken out by post-Christ censors in Palestine, Greece, Rome or Byzantium. Maybe they skip over them today in Sunday school and catechism. Maybe those uncomfortable silences after children inquired about Mrs. Jesus or the lady apostles said it all. I'm not going to scour the bloody New Testament just to find out.

Christian attitudes toward sex and gender, sensuality and sexuality, love and friendship, marriage and divorce, abortion and birth control, women and gays, morality and individual rights, all pretty much turned me away from churches a long time ago. I've never felt any inclination to go back.

Lately though, I have begun to wonder what is going on in those curiously shaped buildings. We hear clerical boy-rapers squealing about "the homosexual agenda," mountain-man bigamists mounting campaigns to save "traditional" marriage, televangelist con-artists wishing hurricanes on gay paraders. Is the anti-Christ already here, under the assumed name of Billy-Bob? Or, in the case of Brooklyn, Vito, Shawn or Tyrone?

Is that a sign of my own prejudice? Maybe. But nobody's going to die for it. Somebody did just die for the same prejudices instilled and inflamed quite deliberately by "men of God," and "moral leaders." If there really were a God in Heaven, these people would have to answer, first among us, for all this hate. The irony is, neither victim in this case was actually gay. Just the perception that they were was enough to inspire a brutal attack. In fact, the two "gay" victims were brothers, and simply observing the custom common in most of the world, and among women even in this country, of walking arm-in-arm down the street. So, even if you are not gay, be very careful not to let anyone think you are. They might kill you.


NY1
"Police Investigate Hate Crime, Victim Remains On Life Support"
When crossing the street, look both ways. And then look straight.

' Police are calling an attack on a pair of Brooklyn brothers over the weekend a hate crime. Investigators said 31-year-old Jose Sucuzhanay was walking home with his brother Romel early Sunday morning when one of them stopped to give the other his coat at the intersection of Kossuth Place and Bushwick Avenue. That's when investigators said a group of men jumped out of an SUV and beat them with a glass bottle and baseball bat while yelling anti-gay and anti-Latino slurs. Romel was not seriously hurt, but Jose was taken to the hospital where he is on life support. "My brother is in critical condition. He has to go through brain surgery. He's okay there. But right now he's not moving, he's not talking, he's in very critical condition. And we hope he will recover," said Sucuzhanay. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said, "There's no indication that they had any previous contact with the victims. So it clearly appears to be a hate crime based on ethnicity and perceived sexual orientation." '

NY TIMES
"Family Keeps Vigil for Beaten Brooklyn Man "
Blacks attacking Hispanics because they think they are gay. Only in America, land of hate crimes of opportunity.

' Early Sunday, less than a mile from where Mr. Sucuzhanay worked, he and his brother Romel were set upon by men the police said they believed were strangers. The brothers were walking home from a bar, arms around each other, the police said. At the corner of Bushwick Avenue and Kossuth Place, three men riding in what a witness described as a maroon or red sport utility vehicle spied the brothers and shouted anti-gay and anti-Hispanic slurs. One of the men hit Jose over the head with a bottle, and the driver of the car swung an aluminum baseball bat at his head, the police said. He fell to the floor as the three attackers, who were black, continued kicking and punching him, the police said. The beating ended only when Romel held up his cellphone and said he was calling the police. On Tuesday, the police released a description of one of the men, saying he is 6 feet tall and thin, and wore a black leather jacket, boots, dark jeans and a dark baseball cap during the attack. The authorities said they did not have the license number of the car. The reward for information was set at $22,000. Julia Osman, who worked with Mr. Sucuzhanay, visited him at the hospital on Monday. His face was so swollen that she could not see his eyes, and his head was wrapped in bandages. “He was kind, and cared about everyone who worked with him,” she said. '

EL DIARIO NY
"Another victim of hate"
If you're going to target someone, make it an immigrant, or an undocumented alien. They won't dare report you. Especially if you kill them. Unfortunately for the criminals, this victim was a citizen.

' Jose Sucuzhanay, a Bushwick business owner, was with his brother Romel on Sunday when he was beaten by a group of men using a bat. He was reportedly declared brain dead yesterday. Romel had come from Ecuador to visit his brother, not bury him. Witnesses heard the cowardly attackers shout anti-gay and anti-Hispanic slurs at the brothers, according to police. They mistook Jose and Romel cozing up in the extreme cold as a sign that they were gay. This hate and violence is anything but isolated. In 2005, the FBI documented more than 1,200 hate crimes against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) persons. But this is a vast undercount, according to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. On top of inaccurate data tracking, hate crimes overall are under-reported. Undocumented immigrants are the least likely of all victims to report these crimes. '

NY NEWSDAY
"Cops: Bias crime attack victim dies"
So, now it's murder.

' Police have released a sketch of one of three assailants of an Ecuadorean man left brain dead after a savage beating in Brooklyn, where attackers hurled anti-gay and anti-Hispanic slurs. At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, the family of Jose Sucuzhanay, 31, said they still held out hope. "He's not dead," Diego Sucuzhanay, one of his five brothers, said at Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens, where Jose had been listed in critical condition yesterday after surgery. "There are some decisions that need to be taken," he continued. "We are brothers and we do not have the power to make that decision." Sucuzhanay's parents are in Ecuador. But a law enforcement source said the case is being investigated as a homicide and Sucuzhanay has been declared brain dead. The Associated Press said he had been taken off life support, according to a law enforcement source. Community leaders and city politicians called for the swift arrest of the attackers. Sucuzhanay suffered severe head trauma in the 3:30 a.m. beating Sunday in Bushwick. Police Tuesday asked for the public's help in locating one suspect, described as a male about 6 feet tall and between 18 and 20 years old, wearing a dark baseball cap, a black leather jacket, dark jeans and boots. A $22,000 reward is also being offered for information leading to the arrest of the attackers. Police asked the public to call 800-577-TIPS. '

[Cross-posted at CoffeeHouseStudio by cosanostradamus.]
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