Teenagers, a small town and alcohol. Tension between whites and a growing Latino population. Ethnic slurs, punches and kicks. A dead illegal immigrant from Mexico.
The acquittal of white Pennsylvania teenagers of all serious charges this month in the death of Luis Ramirez has become a rallying cry for justice among Latinos who feel increasingly under attack in America. It also has exposed difficulties in enforcing hate crime laws designed to keep minorities from becoming targets.
Civil rights groups and elected officials were planning a news conference today to urge the Justice Department to prosecute the Ramirez case after the state-court acquittals, and to renew calls for passage of a federal hate crimes bill that would expand enforcement and extend protection to gay and transgender individuals.
The bill has passed the House, and President Barack Obama has said he will sign it.
Even with the new law, prosecutors still would have to delve into the minds of people accused of committing crimes based on race, color, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.
That can be easy when a swastika is sprayed on a synagogue. It can be harder to pinpoint the emotions that make a random encounter turn deadly.
“To prove someone’s state of mind beyond a reasonable doubt, and therefore the motivation someone had to commit a crime, that can be very difficult,” said Morgan Scott, a former U.S. attorney in Virginia who currently teaches law at Roanoke College. He favors using hate crime prohibitions as a factor in sentencing, where the standard of proof is lower.
“You can say, ‘OK, they hated Hispanics, but that doesn’t prove that was the reason why they did this crime,’ ” said former federal prosecutor Sunny Hostin.
She said bias crimes that end in death are even harder to prove because the victim can’t testify: “You have to link the defendant to the murder, and now you have another hurdle to prove the reason they did it, inside their head.”
But Hostin says the laws still need to be enforced. “It’s not only about punishment, it’s about deterrence,” she said. “In a society that’s always evolving, you need to send a message that hate will not be tolerated.”
Two football players were acquitted by an all-white jury of charges ranging third-degree murder and ethnic intimidation to aggravated assault and ethnic intimidation in the death of a Latino immigrant after a fight in a park. Both were convicted of simple assault, which carry possible one- to two-year prison sentences.
