SAFETY AND RISK IN SOCIETY HATE CRIMES IN THE UNITED STATES No part of this digital document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means. The publisher has taken reasonable care in the preparation of this digital document, but makes no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of information contained herein. This digital document is sold with the clear understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, medical or any other professional services. S R S AFETY AND ISK IN OCIETY Additional books and e-books in this series can be found on Nova’s website under the Series tab. SAFETY AND RISK IN SOCIETY HATE CRIMES IN THE UNITED STATES JOSEPH PELLETIER EDITOR Copyright © 2021 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. 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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data ISBN: 978-1-53619-360-2 Published by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. † New York CONTENTS Preface vii Chapter 1 In the Name of Hate: Examining the Federal Government’s Role in Responding to Hate Crimes 1 United States Commission on Civil Rights Chapter 2 Federal Data on Hate Crimes in the United States 299 Nathan James Chapter 3 Department of Justice’s Role in Investigating and Prosecuting Hate Crimes 315 Nathan James Index 321 PREFACE Reports of hate crimes have been steadily increasing over the past several years, particularly against certain groups; there were reports of 6,121 incidents in 2016 and 7,175 incidents in 2017 (a 17 percent increase). Hate crime experts are unsure if this increase reflects a rise in hate incidents, a willingness on the part of victims to report, or better reporting practices by law enforcement (or a combination of these factors); regardless, these crimes have lasting and far-reaching effects for victims, their communities, and for the nation. Chapter 1 - This is an edited, reformatted and augmented version of Briefing before the United States Commission on Civil Rights Held in Washington, D.C., dated November 2019. Chapter 2 - A relatively recent series of high-profile crimes where the offenders’ actions appeared to be motivated by their bias or animosity towards a particular race, ethnicity, or religion might contribute to a perception that hate crimes are on the rise in the United States. These incidents might also generate interest among policymakers about how the federal government collects data on hate crimes committed in the United States. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) started its Hate Crime Statistics program pursuant to the requirement in the Hate Crime Statistics Act (HSCA, P.L. 101-275) that the Department of Justice (DOJ) collect and report data on crimes that “manifest evidence of prejudice based on race, gender and gender identity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity, including where appropriate the crimes of murder, non- negligent manslaughter; forcible rape; aggravated assault, simple assault, intimidation; arson; and destruction, damage or vandalism of property.” In addition to the FBI’s Hate Crime Statistics program, DOJ also collects data on hate crime victimizations through the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ (BJS’) National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). The NCVS measures self-reported criminal victimizations including those perceived by victims to be motivated by an offender’s bias against them for belonging to or being associated with a group largely identified by the characteristics outlined in the HSCA. viii Joseph Pelletier Scholars, advocates, and members of the media have pointed out that there is a significant disparity between the number of hate crimes reported by the FBI each year and the number of hate crime victimizations reported by BJS. This has led some to criticize the hate crime data published by the FBI as an undercount of the number of hate crimes committed in the United States each year. However, this statistics gap can be partially explained by the different measures and methodologies utilized by the FBI and BJS to collect these data. For example, the FBI only reports on crimes that have been reported to the police, while BJS collects reports of criminal victimizations that may or may not meet the statutory definition of a hate crime and may or may not have been reported to the police. There are a number of reasons why some victims do not report their victimization to the police, including fear of reprisal, not wanting the offender to get in trouble, believing that police would not or could not do anything to help, and believing the crime to be a personal issue or too trivial to report. There are also several reasons why a hate crime that was reported to the police might not be subsequently reported to the FBI for their Hate Crime Statistics program. Deciding whether a crime meets the statutory definition of a hate crime requires law enforcement agencies to investigate allegations of hate crime motivations before making a final determination. Reporting by law enforcement agencies to the FBI might be hampered by the fact that some law enforcement agencies do not have the training necessary to investigate potential bias- motivated offenses effectively. In addition, differing definitions between the FBI and state statutes as to what constitutes a hate crime generate confusion as to which standard should be used to determine whether a hate crime occurred and should be reported. In 2021, the FBI plans to transition to the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) and will no longer accept non-NIBRS compliant data from law enforcement agencies. Policymakers might have an interest in how NIBRS differs from the FBI’s current hate crime reporting program and whether full participation in NIBRS might improve the quality and completeness of federal hate crime data. However, like the FBI’s current crime reporting program, participation in the NIBRS program is voluntary, and policymakers might consider steps Congress could take to promote wide-scale adoption of NIBRS. Chapter 3 - This is an edited, reformatted and augmented version of Congressional Research Service Publication No. IF11312, dated September 17, 2019.