SubinMaine
Posts: 1888
Joined: 1/7/2006 Status: offline
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i have a pretty strong opinion on this matter and it may bring me into a negative light, but i could really care less.... True Story: On of my very best friends walked into a "House of Pizza" in Everett, MA back in the early 90's. There was a gentleman in the establishment that got mouthy with him due to my friends display of an Notre Dame hat with the "fighting irishman" logo on it. This gentleman was wearing one of those huge, double stuffed goose down jackets...Tripple Fat Goose, i think they were called. Anyway, words were exchanged and when my friend left the pizza place, this gentleman followed him outside and proceeded to verbally assault him some more. At one point during the exchange of obsceneties, this gentleman calmly told my friend that he was going to "shoot his white ass"...and reached into the inside pocket of his coat. my friend did what ANYONE would have done, no matter their race and defended himself...the problem was, he got the better of this gentleman and, during the altercation, used a racial slur. Let's further compound the problem by revealing the fact that while my friend took the threat and action to mean this gentleman had a gun in his pocket, it turned out to be all bluster because the gentleman DIDN'T have a gun, he had a 16oz bottle of pepsi in there. So..apparently my friend should have been a mind reader and knew that he wasn't reaching for a gun, he was reaching for a drink? i don't defend him for his use of the racial slur, no one should be put down because of their color, HOWEVER, the state of MA had passed a new "Hate Crime" bill a few weeks earlier. my friend was the first person in the state to be charged under the new version of the Hate Crime laws soley based on the fact that he used that racial slur. He was tried, convicted and sentenced to 12 years at MCI Concord for "Racially motivated Hate Crimes and Mayhem"...those are the exact words used by the courts. The altercation was viewed as a "racial" hate crime because the two participants were of different races and racial slurs were exchanged. The Mayhem was due to the fact that he prevailed in the altercation. i was there for the entire thing, i saw what happened, i heard the exchanges between my friend and this other gentleman...they both used racial slurs...and the outcome was a joke. Any crime is a Hate Crime, period. Words used during the offending act are just that, words. There is no physical damage. i found that situation to be completely unfair and biased (racially) in the opposite direction. i don't think additional time should be added to a sentence due to words being exchanged. i don't think additional time should be added due to the participants of the crime (be it perpetrator or victim) being a different race. A crime is a crime, call an apple an apple and stop trying to make it an orange. Make the law, leave race OUT OF IT and stick to the way the law is written. If that means making stiffer penalties for the crimes commited across the board, then that's what should be done. Ok...i think my rant is over....*smile*
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That which yields is not always weak...
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