I remember the time when hate crime legislation was one of the popular topics. Advocates would usually cite the case of Matthew Shepperd, a gay man in Wyoming who was murdered in a horrible fashion, and a Black man in Texas (sorry I have forgotten his name) who was chained to a truck and killed by dragging. The irony is neither Texas nor…
I remember the time when hate crime legislation was one of the popular topics. Advocates would usually cite the case of Matthew Shepperd, a gay man in Wyoming who was murdered in a horrible fashion, and a Black man in Texas (sorry I have forgotten his name) who was chained to a truck and killed by dragging. The irony is neither Texas nor Wyoming had hate crime laws, yet in both cases the perpetrators were arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced to execution.
An unrepentant geek - and looking for some way to avoid work - I toyed with the idea of law school after med school but just couldn't afford it. Where most of my colleagues thought the law a morass of illogicality, I was fascinated by its logic and divers approach to solving problems.
But like the humanity it serves, the law doesn't always improve and sometimes even takes steps backward. I have always thought that hate-crime laws were simply one more way the elites had ginned up to extend their power, all the while beating the drum for "fairness." When the Ruling Class starts talking about fairness, we plebs should start packing our bags and put our hands over our wallets; somebody's going to lose money or go to jail.
Yeah, what is it with consecutive life sentences? Are prosecutors and judges worried that someone will change the law and murderers will suddenly be freed?
It’s to maximize time served, because someone can be eligible for parole after serving 20-25 years of a life sentence but then they have to serve time for the next “life” sentence. Also if some charges are downgraded on appeal, the consecutive sentence would stand and would have to go through appeal too.
I remember the time when hate crime legislation was one of the popular topics. Advocates would usually cite the case of Matthew Shepperd, a gay man in Wyoming who was murdered in a horrible fashion, and a Black man in Texas (sorry I have forgotten his name) who was chained to a truck and killed by dragging. The irony is neither Texas nor Wyoming had hate crime laws, yet in both cases the perpetrators were arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced to execution.
An unrepentant geek - and looking for some way to avoid work - I toyed with the idea of law school after med school but just couldn't afford it. Where most of my colleagues thought the law a morass of illogicality, I was fascinated by its logic and divers approach to solving problems.
But like the humanity it serves, the law doesn't always improve and sometimes even takes steps backward. I have always thought that hate-crime laws were simply one more way the elites had ginned up to extend their power, all the while beating the drum for "fairness." When the Ruling Class starts talking about fairness, we plebs should start packing our bags and put our hands over our wallets; somebody's going to lose money or go to jail.
Hate crime laws were the responses of politicians who thought they had to do something to appease the voters.
His name was James Byrd, Jr. It would take 5, maybe 6 seconds to find it on Google.
The Matthew Shepherd killers were not sentenced to death, but they did get consecutive life sentences (for consecutive lives??)
Yeah, what is it with consecutive life sentences? Are prosecutors and judges worried that someone will change the law and murderers will suddenly be freed?
It’s to maximize time served, because someone can be eligible for parole after serving 20-25 years of a life sentence but then they have to serve time for the next “life” sentence. Also if some charges are downgraded on appeal, the consecutive sentence would stand and would have to go through appeal too.
Ya mean "crime" was "crime?" Exhibit #377 (approximately) demonstrating that it takes Really Smart People to uncork the stupidest ideas.
Where did you hear it? I'm sure you'll supply the appropriate references for your big story.
Meghan Daum is a very liberal feminist. Even she has mentioned that the conventional narrative of the Shepherd story was bogus.
You’re correct. Shepherd was killed over drugs. It had absolutely nothing do with homosexuality but they never let a crisis go to waste.
Locals knew the narrative was a pile of bullshit from the beginning.