A ham sandwich a hate crime?

[Dumpy Dooby]

Originally Posted by Roonie

Actually the fucking child is 14+......

Age of Criminal Responsibility

When you reached the age of 10 you probably didn't realise you had reached the age of criminal responsibility. Until the age of 10 the law says that you cannot be held responsible for a crime.
Between the ages of 10 and 14 you can be convicted of a criminal offence if the prosecution can show you were aware that what you were doing was seriously wrong. For example, the case of Jamie Bulger, who was killed by two 10 year olds, was based on this principle. The prosecution showed that the two boys knew that what they were doing was seriously wrong and they were given prison sentences.
After the age of 14 the law considers you are fully responsible for your actions in the same way as an adult. As such you will be treated as an adult in a court of law in terms of criminal responsibility (although not in terms of sentencing).

So your position has been reduced to semantic quibbling?



My point is that he's a child, legalese be damned.

[6SpeedTA95]

Originally Posted by Roonie

Hate crimes (also known as bias crimes) are violent crimes, hate speech or vandalism, motivated by feelings of enmity or animus against an identifiable social group. Animosity towards the victims of hate crimes are often based on race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity, or national origin. Hate crimes differ from regular crime motivated by economic gain or personal animosity. In the United States, criminal acts motivated by bias can easily be confused with forms of expression protected by the U.S. Constitution.

Most hate crimes are committed not by members of an organized hate group but by individual citizens. Some perpetrators resent the growing economic power of a particular racial or ethnic group and engage in “scapegoating”; others react to a perceived threat to the safety and property value of their neighborhood. Still other offenders include “thrill seekers”--those who randomly target interchangeable representatives of minority groups for harassment and violence............


hmmmmmm sound familiar. I would say this story fits this definition. If the kid simply targeted one boy with pork then I would agree with the general feelings of the board on this topic. However there was a group and they were definately the minority. They all felt harassed and no longer felt safe. Not sure why this particular act would not be a hate crime???

So basically everyone is guilty of a hate crime.


Thank you for proving my point and the point of many others in this thread.

[Kytro]

Originally Posted by Dumpy Dooby

So your position has been reduced to semantic quibbling?



My point is that he's a child, legalese be damned.

I wouldn't say a child, but certainly not an adult.

The law is so inconsistent in this regard. If someone does something bad (a crime) they are treated as adults, but they are not given any of the rights adults have.

[imind]

so, the ham hate crime never happened, after all?

[7960]

Originally Posted by imind

so, the ham hate crime never happened, after all?

the discussion is still valid.