Hate crime

In criminal law, a hate crime is a standard offence (such as assault or murder) with an added element of bias against a victim (individual or group of individuals) because of their physical appearance or perceived membership of a certain social group. Examples of such groups can include, and are almost exclusively limited to race/ethnicity, disability, language, nationality, physical appearance, political views, political affiliation, age, religion, sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation. Hate crime should be distinguished from hate violence, or hate incidents, which might not necessarily be criminalized. Incidents may involve physical assault, homicide, damage to property, bullying, harassment, verbal abuse or insults, mate crime, or offensive graffiti or letters (hate mail). Non-criminal actions that are motivated by these reasons are often called "bias incidents". For example, the criminal law of the United States, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines a hate crime as a traditional offense like murder, arson, or vandalism with an added element of bias. Hate itself is not a hate crime, but committing a crime motivated by bias against one or more of the social groups listed above, or by bias against their derivatives constitutes a hate crime. A hate crime law is a law intended to deter bias-motivated violence. Hate crime laws are distinct from laws against hate speech: hate crime laws enhance the penalties for conduct which is already criminal under other laws, while hate speech laws criminalize a category of speech. Hate speech is a factor for sentencing enhancement in the United States, distinct from laws that criminalize speech.