On June 11, 1993, the United State's Supreme Court upheld Wisconsin's penalty enhancement law, which imposes harsher sentences on criminals who intentionally select the person against whom the crime is committed, because of the race, religion, color, disability, sexual orientation, national origin or ancestry of that person. Chief Justice Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the unanimous Court. On the evening of October 7, 1989, Mitchell and a group of young black men attacked and severely beat a lone white boy. The group had just finished watching the film "Mississippi Burning", in which a young black boy was, while praying, beaten by a white man. After the film, the group moved outside and Mitchell asked if they felt "hyped up to move on some white people". When the white boy approached Mitchell said, "You all want to screw somebody up? There goes a white boy, Go get him." The boy was left unconscious, and remained in a coma for four days. Mitchell was convicted of aggravated battery, which carries a two-year maximum sentence. The Wisconsin jury, however, found that because Mitchell selected his victim based on race, the penalty enhancement law allowed Mitchell to be sentenced to up to seven years. The jury sentenced Mitchell to four years, twice the maximum for the crime he committed without the penalty enhancement law.
             The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling was faulty, and defied a number of precedents. The Wisconsin law is unconstitutional, and is essentially unenforceable. The Wisconsin law and the new federal laws are based on a model created by the Anti-Defamation League in response to a rising tide of hate-related violent crimes (Cacas, 33). Figures released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation show that 7,684 hate crimes motivated by race, religion, ethnicity, and sexual orientation were reported in 1993, up from 6,623 the previous year. Of those crimes, 62 percent were racially motivated (Cacas, 32). Un...