Who determines whether or not a crime is a hate crime?

Question

Is it the judge? Who makes that arbitrary decision.

Answer 1

Several people make that determination, depending on the jurisdiction.

The Prosecuter initially decides to charge a defendant with a hate crime.  Then, the indicting authority, usually a Grand Jury, but sometimes a Judge, will decide whether or not to indict the defendant with the hate crime.

Hate Crimes are crimes that are done because the victim belongs to some group.  This could be ethnic minorities, or religious based, or based on the victim's sexual orientation.

The main criteria that Prosecuters/Juries/Judges use are statements made by the perpetrator.  If, for example, someone beats up a g*y man and calls him f***** repeatedly, that could be cause for charging him with a hate crime.  If someone vandalizes someone's property by spraypainting a swastika on their door, they could be charged with a hate crime.  Burning a cross on someone's lawn (specifically a black person's) could also be grounds for a hate crime.

Unless there is something credible to indicate that discrimination was the main motivating factor in the commission of a crime, they will prosecute just for the basic crime.

Answer 2

the police then the DA

Answer 3

The lawmakers make that decision. It is not arbitrary in anyway. The state laws state very clearly what is considered a hate crime. It is not someones opinion. The judge makes his decision according to how the law is written.

Answer 4

It is those twelve people in the jury box who ultimately decide.  They can convict you of a hate crime only if they find, beyond a reasonable doubt, that your crime was motivated by race, religion, or whatever.

Answer 5

A crime is a crime. Wether it was or wasn't race related shouldn't matter.

Answer 6

The prosecutor makes that decision.  If the accused is white and the victim is a minority, it's probably a hate crime.  If the victim is white, it's never a hate crime even if the perpetrators stated clearly before witnesses that they were committing the crime because the victim was white.

That's the reality of how it works.