re: #266 albusteve

..and how can it be fair to impose a harsher sentence on sign carrying haters than other killers?…to me it makes no sense since it discriminates in favor of non hate crime killers

That’s crazy. You might as well say that we ‘discriminate’ in favour of burglars because we give armed robbers higher penalties.

Hate crimes deserve a stiffer sentence (and to be treated separately) because they have the intent of terrorising an entire group of people, beyond the single individual attacked. That’s the rationale behind them. It’s not about creating a specially protected class; it’s about acknowledging that certain classes are targeted in ways that others are not.