Much of society today revolves around people's differences. We are confronted on a daily basis by issues such as Affirmative Action, Gay rights, and Women's rights. Race, religion, sexual orientation, and gender can affect your working and social lives in a very serious way. People seem to be getting more and more determined to get more acceptance and tolerance for differences. Common catch phrases of the last few years have included "Equal Rights For All" and "Celebrate Diversity."
             The celebration of diversity is an interesting concept. Society tells us to be proud our differences. If you are gay, straight, Jewish, Shinto, Ethiopian, Indonesian, or an interesting combination somewhere in the middle, celebrate it, because having differences is what makes our society strong. This is where hate crime legislation comes in. Hate crime legislation punishes people who refuse to tolerate difference and express their refusal in violent or nonviolent illegal ways. Hate crime legislation is essentially the idea that hate crimes should carry harsher penalties than other crimes. The same crime committed with different motives would hold different consequences. Under this premise, hate crime legislation should be realized to be unconstitutional and should not be permitted.
             Congress defines a hate crime as "a crime in which the defendant intentionally selects a victim, or in the case of a property crime, the property that is the object of the crime, because of the actual or perceived race, color, national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability, or sexual orientation of any person"(Congress). After reading it once, it seems to make sense. A closer look with reveal the dangerous ideals behind it. First, it must be understood how a crime is determined a hate crime.
             When involving a crime, the line between hate-related or not comes down to evidence supporting a prejudice or bias on the part of the perpetrator. If evidence can b...