Definitions
- Hate Crime
A criminal offense committed against a person which is motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability status, ethnicity/national origin, gender or sexual orientation.Different states have various categories for hate crime law. Some may include the categories gender identity, age and, or political affiliation. Check with your state statutes.
Copyright ©2001. Wiley-Cordone, J. Preventing Youth Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Training Manual. National Center for Hate Crime Prevention, Education Development Center, Inc.: Newton, MA. Used with permission.
- Hate Incidents/Hate Crimes
A hate incident is an act of conduct, speech, or expression to which a bias motive is evident as a contributing factor (regardless of whether the act is criminal).
A hate crime is a hate incident that has risen to the level of a crime. All hate crimes are hate incidents, but not all incidents are crimes.
Copyright ©2001. Wiley-Cordone, J. Preventing Youth Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Training Manual. National Center for Hate Crime Prevention, Education Development Center, Inc.: Newton, MA. Used with permission.Hate incidents include, among other things, speech that is hate- or bias-motivated but is not a credible threat (like someone shouting an epithet out of the window of a passing car on a crowded street in the middle of the day), written hate statements that are not credibly threatening and are not vandalism, drawings that are not vandalism (for instance, something drawn on a chalkboard), and so on.