Massacusetts New Staff

February 1--The basic values of the citizens in Massachusetts are not that much different from the rest of the country, according to J. Edward Pawlick, Publisher of Massachusetts News.

"This is clear from the Wirthlin Worldwide poll that we commissioned on ‘hate crime’ laws," Pawlick said (read the questions).

"They show that, contrary to what we are told," he continued, "the citizens of this state are merely suffering from a lack of leadership. If a political leader would surface who has the courage to stand for the basic values that most people in this state cherish and he does not waffle on these issues, he would be amazed at the support he would gain."

The poll revealed that Massachusetts citizens do not favor the basic premise of "hate crime" laws. 

When asked whether a criminal should be punished for his actions committed during a crime – or whether he should be punished for his actions and for the thoughts he had when he committed the crime, only 33% thought he should be punished for his thoughts.

"This shows that the average citizen believes that a criminal should be punished only for his actions and not for what he was thinking at the time. If he was trying to murder someone, it is still murder. It doesn’t matter why he wished to murder the person, because it was wrong in any event, no matter who he murdered," said Pawlick. 

When the citizens were asked whether the murder of a heterosexual or a homosexual was more serious, 97% said that both murders are equally serious and should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

"Again, this shows that the citizens believe that everyone should have the full protection of the law, including homosexuals," said Pawlick.

When asked whether homosexuals have suffered the same kind of legal injustices that African-Americans suffered prior to the 1964 Civil Rights Act, only 22% thought they had suffered the same.

"This shows that there is little support for treating homosexuals as deserving any special protections that are not given to everyone," said Pawlick.

Similar to Nationwide Poll

The results from the Massachusetts poll were interesting as compared to a poll of 1,013 respondents across the entire country which was taken by Wirthlin Worldwide for another client in July 1999.

The only difference between the answers given by citizens in Massachusetts as compared to the nationwide poll was whether criminals should be punished for the thoughts they had when they committed the crime. Although only 6% nationwide thought that criminals should be punished for their thoughts, the number rose to 33% in Massachusetts. However, even in Massachusetts, 64% of the citizens believe that a criminal should be punished only for his actions.

The only other difference between Massachusetts and the rest of the nation was much smaller. It was in the question whether homosexuals have suffered the same as African Americans did before the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Whereas only15% of the people across the nation believe that homosexuals have suffered the same, that number rose slightly to 22% in Massachusetts. However, 74% deny that the homosexuals have suffered the same.

As to the question about murder, both the U.S. and Massachusetts citizens, thought that the murder of a heterosexual or a homosexual is equally serious at 98% and 97% respectively.