By Joel A. Moskowitz, M.D

LA JOLLA, Calif—The aphorism "Sticks and stones may break your bones but names will never
harm you" is wrong.  In the United States, which cherishes Freedom of Speech, virtually anything may  be said.  No matter how inflammatory, derogatory, defaming or simply hurtful speech may be, each citizen has the constitutional right to express his or her opinion.  But when it is an attack on one's race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or disability and it is in conjunction with an actual crime it may constitute a hate crime.

The Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center was the location for a 'candid' panel discussion of such crimes in the Jewish and LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) communities on  Wednesday, May 24.  The moderator was  Midge Costanza—a one-time special assistant to President Jimmy Carter who now works as a public liaison officer for the San Diego District Attorney's office.
   HATE CRIMES PANEL—Jane Fantel introduces Hate Crimes panelists
    including, from left, Midge Costanza, Morris Casuto, Joseph Polisar and
    Bonnie Dumanis at Lawrence Family JCC on Wednesday,  May 24

Garden Grove Police Chief Joseph Polisar said hate crimes often are triggered by the daily news.   For example, following the first Gulf War, persons of Middle Eastern origin were abused.  When there was national discussion in 1993 about gays in the military, an upsurge in anti-gay acts followed.  In 1998 when attention was drawn to undocumented immigrants from Mexico, anti-Latino sentiment became prominent; After September 11, 2001,  hostility towards Islamic groups became evident; Following the same sex marriage debates in 2004, an increase in incidents targeting gays and lesbians followed.  Today, daily news keeps the public aware of  threats by the leaders of Iran and the Hamas to eliminate Israel. 

Is there a continuum between these Hitlerian rantings and those who deface a church after Easter (a common occurrence) or graffiti ridiculing gays or lesbians?  Is there a hate motive when some white teen-age males beat up elderly Latino workers but shout no epithets or any utterance at all?   Tom Metzger, arch white supremacist, who recently moved from his home in San Diego County (Fallbrook) to Indiana,  used to counsel  his evildoers to  "say nothing and
they can't charge you with a hate crime!" reported Morris Casuto, San Diego regional director of the Anti-Defamation League.

However,  Casuto chuckled, Metzger's agents weren't smart enough to follow his advice, which may not  have worked anyway.  David Rubin, current chief of Hate Crime Prosecution
for San Diego DA's office, explained he instructs the police to strip the culprit in jail and observe any tattoos, which, Rubin argues, reveal biased attitudes and can be used as evidence in court. Likewise, search warrants permitting officers to download hard-drive contents from a person's computer, as well as  posters, books and other literature can help persuade a jury that the violent act was, at least in part, motivated by hate.

If the courts find hate to be a motive for a crime, judges are authorized to impose harsher sentences on offenders.  Instead of, for example, a maximum of three years, the convicted criminal may now be incarcerated for six years.  

San Diego District of Attorney Bonnie Dumanis noted  that both she and David Rubin, the attorney in the office responsible for prosecuting hate crimes, are gay Jews, so are sensitive to the concerns of both communities.

Rubin, who now is a candidate for judge against former District Attorney Paul Pfingst, estimated that two crimes per month in San Diego County have hate as an element. Crimes against Jewish people seem to be diminishing. Jews have been sensitized into reporting incidents,  probably because they feel secure that something will be done.

Casuto related an incident when a local rabbi's home was the target of hate.  The investigating police officer volunteered to check on the Synagogue as well.  Over the years, local police have
become increasingly sensitive to the need to take hate crimes seriously, Casuto said.

However, he reported, society at large is not always so concerned about attacks on gays and lesbians. Casuto decried their omission from a proposed National Anti-Discrimination Act.  Biblical admonitions against homosexuality cause some members of Congress to extend to the LGBT community federal protections offered other minorities. 

Dumanis said that in most instances, California law is sufficient to deal with attacks on members of the LGBT community.  She noted that  in 1987, California was one of the first states to
enact Hate Crime legislation.  It has been expanded to include violent acts, which are 'mistaken' displays of hate such as when a white person is targeted because he looks like a Latino.

The District Attorney's office has a Victim Assistance Unit.  The anxiety and fear felt by the victim of a hate crime may be profound— whether the crime was in the form of a burglary with swastikas as the calling card, or an assault and battery.  Where the victim is fearful of appearing in Court, special counselors are available. The range of aid is wide and may include Witness Protection measures, Dumanis said.   

Panelists agreed that "common sense" in some instances can help people avoid being victimized by hate crimes.  For example, current fashion among the young is to mimic the quasi-uniforms of certain Black and Latino gangs.  This form of admiration can be mistaken when that sheik dresser finds himself in the wrong  'hood'.   

But even vigilant and discrete behavior can fail to be protective.   Recently two men walking together were deemed to be gay (they weren't) and were violently harassed.  

The panel discussion raised some questions in my mind, which I as a retired psychiatrist would now like to introduce as a commentary for possible further discussion.

Psychiatry doesn't  have a specific diagnostic category for those who hate.  It may be that
identity is the issue.  "One way I know who I am is by being a member of a group that doesn't like them!"  

Most hate crimes are perpetrated by groups of young disaffected males.  Convicted and labeled as people who, for example, want to hurt Latinos, the guilty youths may be forced to join white
supremacist groups in prison for self-preservation.  Not designed to be therapeutic environments to alter bigoted behavior, the prisons may only exacerbate the youths' anti-social tendencies.

There is a substantial question, therefore,  whether, other than keeping offenders off our streets for a longer period, hate crime laws bring the benefits for which they are enacted.  Do they really deter hate crimes? Perhaps we are manufacturing 'closet haters'.

Some legal scholars have decried the entire strategy of formal anti-bigotry legislation as unnecessary.  It seems that groups are seeking special validation by being identified as persecuted minorities.  Additionally, some lawyers argue that judges have always had the power to impose stiffer sentences taking into account the degree of violence and damage the victim has suffered.