Commentary
Rep. Finegold of Andover Proposes Making Attacks on the Homeless a “Hate Crime”
       Citing a recent crime in which a homeless man was assaulted while sleeping on a park bench in Boston’s North End, Rep. Barry R. Finegold (D-Andover) has announced a legislative proposal that will extend protection under state's “hate crime statute” to include the homeless.
       Currently, the state hate crime law makes it a crime to assault and cause injury to an individual based on the person’s race, color, religion, national original, sexual orientation or disability. Such crimes are punishable by five years in state prison and up to a ten thousand dollar fine. The proposed legislation will bring a person’s housing status under the hate crime statute.
       There perhaps could be no better example of the futility of “hate crime” legislation than Finegold’s proposal.
       It is not necessary to point out the semantic absurdity of classifying some assaults as “hate crimes” and some as not. “Assault” is “assault”. There is “hate” involved all the time, regardless of the race/gender/nationality/orientation etc. of the victim, or there wouldn’t have been an assault to begin with.
       Finegold’s legislation highlights the illogic of creating and multiplying classes and people groups under the pretense of seeking justice. The end result is that equal justice under the law is thwarted.
       Let’s say hypothetically, that a young hooligan goes out one night for an evening of mischief and mayhem. He mugs one couple in the theater district, making off with a purse and some jewelry. Then, he makes the mistake of rolling a homeless wino for his bottle of Ripple. If caught, he might face a couple of years for mugging the couple. However, he is going to get five years for mugging the homeless man. He has now, under Finegold’s proposal, committed a “hate crime” which gets a much stiffer penalty than a typical mugging. Assaulting the homeless man would have greater weight in the eyes of the law than mugging an individual who is not homeless.
       If this proposal passes, what will be the next “class” that is protected under the hate crimes statute? We know a lot of overweight people who feel they are unfairly discriminated against because of their weight. The public humiliation of overweight people is seen in the incessant commercials for weight loss gimmicks and gym memberships. Why isn’t obesity specified under the statute? How about geeky fans of Star Trek? They are always bullied and mocked, on TV and in real life. Sign them up too.
       Adding homelessness to the statute only muddies up the reason why hate crime legislation was enacted to begin with. It was meant to give authorities a way to go after the malicious and chronic racists, like those in Aryan Nation or other such groups. Adding a temporary economic state like homelessness to the list of “protected” classes just highlights the irrationality of the whole premise.