A 9 page argumentative essay pertaining to 'hate crimes' and whether or not enhanced criminal penalties should exist for those who commit them. Used as a constant reference is the relevant Supreme Court Case of R.A.V. vs. St. Paul and various tenets of the First Amendment. The writer concludes that free speech must be protected at virtually any cost in the U.S. even if it means that hate speech and 'hate crimes' will continue to cost lives.
Name of Research Paper File: D0_Hatecrim.doc
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
nations constitution and its fundamental principles of Democracy. In a country whose government ensures "liberty, freedom, and justice for all"; it seems to be a bit too often that
these core guarantees are deemed threatened by citizens ourselves. Typically, issues of multiculturalism and race surround any dilemma pertaining to our rights and privileges under the tenants of the
United States Constitution. One such matter of controversy has been the issue of "hate crime" and whether or not it should be a breach of greater magnitude to inflict
harm upon someone when racially motivated to do so. Hate crime is definitively propelled by hate speech and as a result, many argue that the "hate" part of the
crime is merely an example of First Amendment-guaranteed free speech and therefore can not be censored by an enhanced criminal penalty. Opponents maintain that failure to reprimand crimes known
to be of hate is an example of tolerance for racism, prejudices, and social injustices. Todays universities have witnessed an increasing amount of hate speech and the crimes that
it is believed to yield. Since it is in the best interest of learning institutions to promote a safe environment, many are led to believe that programs geared toward
the curtailment of hate speech would be beneficial to such a goal. And indeed, such a solution sounds simple enough : Point an accusing finger at hate speech
and stop it from happening to prevent hate crime. But unfortunately, such a preventive method would not promote the greater good : protection of constitutionally-guaranteed free speech.
In recent years, we have witnessed the stark arrival of this controversy in the Supreme Court and have consequently watched it grow both in ferocity and in magnitude. The