Punishing Hate: Bias Crimes under American Law [Hardcover]

Frederick M. Lawrence (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 15, 1999

Bias crimes are a scourge on our society. Is there a more terrifying image in the mind's eye than that of the burning cross? Punishing Hate examines the nature of bias-motivated violence and provides a foundation for understanding bias crimes and their treatment under the U.S. legal system.

In this tightly argued book, Frederick Lawrence poses the question: Should bias crimes be punished more harshly than similar crimes that are not motivated by bias? He answers strongly in the affirmative, as do a great many scholars and citizens, but he is the first to provide a solid theoretical grounding for this intuitive agreement, and a detailed model for a bias crimes statute based on the theory. The book also acts as a strong corrective to recent claims that concern about hate crimes is overblown. A former prosecutor, Lawrence argues that the enhanced punishment of bias crimes, with a substantial federal law enforcement role, is not only permitted by doctrines of criminal and constitutional law but also mandated by our societal commitment to equality.

Drawing upon a wide variety of sources, from law and criminology, to sociology and social psychology, to today's news, Punishing Hate will have a lasting impact on the contentious debate over treatment of bias crimes in America.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This book is as timely as today's headlines. Professor Lawrence has written a powerful, persuasive, and eloquent call for more effective action by Congress and the states to deal with these despicable crimes. Civil Rights is still the unfinished business of America. Hate crimes are uniquely destructive and divisive, because their impact extends far beyond the victim. They poison entire communities and undermine the ideals for which America stands. They deserve to be punished with the full force of the law, and Professor Lawrence's book brings us closer to that important goal. (Senator Edward M. Kennedy )

About the Author

Frederick M. Lawrence is Associate Dean and Professor of Law at the Boston University School of Law.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 282 pages
• Publisher: Harvard University Press (May 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674738454
• ISBN-13: 978-0674738454
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,144,341 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enlightening, Accessible, Specific, and Inspiring, July 6, 2010

By 

Lynda Elizabeth Jeffrey (Washington DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Punishing Hate: Bias Crimes under American Law (Paperback)

I found Lawrence's book, Punishing Hate, to be an enlightening, closely-reasoned guide to understanding hate crimes and how to combat them. Lawrence's writing is both scholarly and accessible, and his ideas are both wise and practical: for example, Lawrence's insight that after a hate crime, fellow members of the targeted group (e.g. blacks, women, Jews, gay people, et al.) feel not only sympathy for the victim, not only empathy for the victim, but the sense that they themselves have been attacked. I could go into more details here, but you're better off simply picking up the book.

It is a shame that the reviewer below, "Dissident Aggressor," has chosen to rant at length, to recite untrue things (e.g. the book *does* define who should be considered a hate crime victim -- see the book's section on "social fissure lines" in Chapter 1), and to make ad hominem references to Lawrence's background. Oh, well, it *is* the internet; you never know what you'll find. One more reason to turn to this book. Few topics provoke as much confusion, vitriol and nonsense on the internet as hate crimes. Amid this cacophony, Lawrence's book is a clarion call of reason, and a call to action.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Right Blend of Academic Subtlety and Compassion, July 6, 2010

By 

R. Morse - See all my reviews

This review is from: Punishing Hate: Bias Crimes under American Law (Paperback)

Senator Kennedy's praise for this book was spot-on: Punishing Hate by Professor Frederick M. Lawrence presents a clear, cogent case for why and how to end impunity for hate crimes, and in doing so, to eradicate them from our societies.


Lawrence has the right blend of academic subtlety and common touch, of assiduousness and compassion. He was among the first coiners of the terms "bias crime," which is more specific than "hate crime" in describing the motivation that lies behind such crimes of bigotry. In this book, Lawrence also coins the term "parallel crime," which has now entered the discourse (see: [...]) to refer to the crime that is similar in mechanics to, but vastly different in intent from, the bias crime in question.


For example: Regarding breaking a synagogue's windows with bigoted intent, ordinary vandalism would be the "parallel crime." One can think of similar examples regarding bias crimes against people of any background, religion, color or creed: African-Americans, women, gay people, and ultimately -- this is Lawrence's universal definition of who should be considered a victim of a hate crime; he discusses the question in great detail -- people of any group where a country's "social fissure lines" lie, as Lawrence aptly phrases it.


Lawrence shows how the parallelism in act between the bias crime and the "parallel crime" reveals the vast difference in the intent behind the act. This difference reveals why bias crimes inflict so much more pain on the individual -- and on the targeted community -- than the parallel crime. The deeper damage of a bias crime, in turn, reveals how bias crimes undermine society in a graver way, and why they must be seen differently, treated differently and punished more heavily than the parallel crime: because only in this way can we as a society deter people from committing bias crimes in the first place.


Lawrence's contributions to scholarship -- and his numerous appearances giving testimony before Congress -- paid off in 2009 when President Obama signed the Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 into law. I'd pick this book up if I were you. No book is perfect, but Punishing Hate is as close as it gets to indispensable.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A terrific and important read, July 12, 2010

By 

annette annechild - See all my reviews

This review is from: Punishing Hate: Bias Crimes under American Law (Paperback)

Understanding hate crimes is the first step toward stopping them. This book is compelling, provocative and well written. The author takes the reader on the journey of his research and expertise in a way that is both easy to understand and difficult to forget.
Annette Annechild