what is the purpose of legally defining "hate crimes"?

[jrtom]

This question keeps occurring to me in different contexts. This morning, I learned that some unspecified treatment of homeless people apparently constitutes a "hate crime" in Washington State: http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kplu/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1201540

This is one of those contexts in which I'd kind of like to believe that I'm missing something, so this is a genuine question to which I'd like to receive thoughtful responses.

Wikipedia states:

Hate crimes differ from conventional crime because they are not directed simply at an individual, but are meant to cause fear and intimidation in an entire group or class of people.

(The definition above sounds like it could easily have been for "terrorism", but I'll leave that alone.)

I can understand members of various minority and/or powerless groups wanting to ensure that they're not systematically oppressed, and I certainly understand that individual crimes can have very wide repercussions.

But it seems to me nevertheless that legal recognition of crimes qua hate crimes has some serious pitfalls, too.

• Prosecuting someone as a "hate criminal" (so to speak) identifies their cause and perhaps even legitimizes it. It gives their action more publicity than it would otherwise have had. Possibly even gives the actor the status of martyr.
  
• Shouldn't we prefer to focus on preventing crimes of violence and intimidation in the first place? Establishing motive is useful...but it's not clear why it should be a basis for punishment, rather than the nature of the actions themselves.
  
• Perhaps most importantly, it comes at least perilously close to legislating opinions, or at least motivations. If we protect free speech, certainly we must also afford at least that level of protection to opinion.
  

Knowing me, I'm probably missing something practical and obvious. Any thoughts?

Comments

[fenicedautun.livejournal.com]

I'm with the majority of intelligent writers that I've read on the issue, that if somebody is murdered/beaten/other violent crimes, then they should be prosecuted for that crime. The motivation of the accused could (and possibly should) be brought up at trial, but the crime is the violence.
On the other hand, I do believe that there is a category that should be hate crimes. For example, burning a cross on a lawn. Or spray painting anti-gay obscenities on somebody's car. Or hanging nooses from a tree/doorknob. These are non-violent attempts to intimidate somebody because of the group they are in. I would say that's a hate crime, and should get more punishment than just the slap on the wrist that the law can give for the actual "damage" to property.